Vee & Amara's First Date

The smell of fresh, hot coffee filled Amara’s senses, and she took a deep breath of appreciation as she watched her morning beverage slowly fill. She propped her elbows on the counter as she leaned forward, then closed her eyes as another yawn overpowered her. In her detached, tired state, she barely registered the hellfire sparks that leapt from her mouth, skipping and dancing through the air before vanishing in tiny puffs of smoke. Her tail, previously wrapped around her leg, now unraveled and stretched out behind her, tensing and flicking back and forth as Amara tried to shake loose her morning sleepiness.

Once her mug was full, she happily grabbed it in her hands and cupped it tightly, holding it close while she moved to sit at the nearby counter. Bringing it to her lips, she melted just a little bit as hot coffee met her tongue, its flavor doing far more to wake her up than any amount of stretching could.

Hrm. Not quite hot enough.

Eyes flaring with excitement, Amara’s hellfire reached out to push the temperature even hotter. She didn’t quite bring it to a boil—she’d recently learned that doing so ruined the flavor profile—but when she finished it was much hotter than any human could safely enjoy. After a second sip, she hummed with contentment before setting her phone on the counter to check her socials.

Around the corner, the bathroom door opened and Vee entered the hallway.

“Amara, I just used up the last of the soap, but I couldn’t find any more. Do you keep it somewhere else?” she asked, chucking the empty bottle of soap in the garbage.

Pausing for a moment, Amara dug through her memory. “Uh, I’m probably out. I don’t really use soap anymore, it's way easier to use hellfire. I swear it’s a deeper clean, too.”

Vee laughed, her soft giggle bringing another smile to Amara’s face. “Love, you need to keep soap in your house; you’re not the only person that uses that bathroom. Besides, don’t you miss the smells? Picking out cute scents that match the season?”

“Maybe? Realistically, I could make whatever smell I want at any time.” Amara took another sip of her coffee. “Plus, with everything that’s been going on… festivity hasn’t exactly been on my mind recently.”

Stepping closer, Vee kissed Amara’s cheek with a playful smile. “You seemed awfully festive the day after we started dating.”

Happy shivers run up Amara’s spine. “Well, yeah, it was Christmas! Everyone crashed my place without warning and surprised us with a celebratory decoration and dinner! That’s different than being bored enough to scroll through a million different soaps online while trying to picture what they smell like.”

“You shop for soaps online?” Vee asked. “Oh, honey, that’s no fun. We should head downtown and buy some! Ooh, and while we’re there we could—” she paused for a moment before adding, “Huh.”

Amara turned to look at Vee. “You okay?”

“I just had a thought, and now I feel a little silly I didn’t think of it earlier. We’ve never been on a date.”

The thought surprised Amara just as much as it did Vee. “Oh shit, you’re right. We kinda just jumped right into declaring our unending love for each other. While falling from the sky. Surrounded by rainbow lightning.” Amara paused for a moment, smiling as she recalled their first kiss. “Sometimes I still can’t believe that actually happened. Nick swears I made it up for dramatic effect.”

Vee’s eyes lit up, and she stepped back before clapping excitedly. “This is perfect! We’ve got nothing going on today!”

“Wait, today?” Amara asked, setting down her coffee.

“Yes, today!” Vee grabbed Amara’s hands, clasping them tightly as they stared into each other’s eyes. “Amara Lamour, love of my life, will you go out with me?”

Blushing with giddy excitement, and barely hiding an adorable laugh, Amara quickly nodded. “I mean, yeah, obviously.”

“Perfect!” Vee said, kissing Amara before stepping back. She began pacing back and forth across the floor, playing with her hair as she thought to herself aloud. “Okay, first I’ll need to change, then I can grab a bag, and we’ll have to think of other things to do…” She stopped suddenly, her eyes flicking to Amara. A second passed, and her expression changed. It almost seemed like she was holding back a laugh.

“Vee? What is it?” Amara asked.

“It’s— Well, sometimes you— Ugh, if I tell you, you might stop doing it! And it’s so cute!”

“That’s not fair! Now you have to tell me!”

After a heavy, conflicted sigh, Vee reluctantly caved. “Okay, well, when you get really excited… you, um… you wag your tail.”

“Shut up! I do not!” Amara protested. As she spoke, however, she realized that her tail was indeed flicking back and forth across the floor underneath her stool. Her face grew hot as she blushed in embarrassment. “T-that’s not… Fuck, have I always done that?”

Vee chuckled. “Well that I couldn’t say. To be fair, there hasn’t been a lot of time for whimsy these last few months. Maybe it’s a recent development?”

“I guess I could ask Nick, but if he doesn’t already know, then I’ll never hear the end of it. He’d totally tell Tessa, too, and that would be insufferable,” Amara muttered. “Of course, it’s not like I’m planning on hiding my tail around them anytime soon, so they might find out eventually anyways…”

“Well, while you plan your elaborate scheme to hide how cute you are from your friends, I’m going to get dressed. You have ten minutes to think of what you want to wear!”

They kissed one last time, then Vee ran back to Amara’s bedroom.

—

As the happy couple stepped outside, they found themselves greeted by the thin rays of the sun attempting to poke through the heavy cloud cover. Just enough light broke through to illuminate the town around them, and Vee took a deep breath before looking back at the woman behind her. The love of her life, the breathtakingly beautiful Amara Lamour, looked as devilishly attractive as always. Her thick, curly hair bounced lightly as she walked closer, tucking her keys in her purse before zipping it up. She wore tight blue jeans that perfectly framed her shapely legs, though her figure was partially obscured by the long red jacket that ended just above her knees. A black button-down shirt hung comfortably from her torso, unbuttoned just enough to tease those nearby with a generous view of her impressive cleavage.

God, she’s incredible. I’ll never get tired of this view.

Once Amara finally joined Vee at the front gate, she looked up and cocked her head. “Vee? Something up with my illusions?”

Instead of answering, Vee grabbed the lapels of Amara’s jacket and pulled her close, passionately kissing her and drinking in her warmth. After breaking off their kiss, she grabbed Amara’s hand and turned around, starting to lead them both towards downtown Ekstápoli. “Nope! Just appreciating how hot you are, as always. Why, is that a crime?”

Amara blushed slightly, her freckled face scrunching up as she shimmied in joy from Vee’s compliment. “N-no! I’m just— I dunno, still adjusting to everything. I’ve had partners before, but it’s never been, well, quite like this.”

“How so?” Vee asked, happily guiding Amara as they walked side by side.

“I mean, I’ve told you about my exes, right?”

“Well yeah, but that was before your transformation and all that other drama.”

“I guess that’s true,” Amara mumbled. “I never dated very many people, you know that, but in hindsight it kinda feels like it wasn’t really me dating them. I look back and feel like I was just going through the motions: going out with them because teenagers are supposed to date, kissing them because they clearly wanted to kiss me, sending them spicy pictures because, well, that’s what you do in a relationship, right?”

“No one ever forced you into anything, did they?” Vee asked, turning a corner.

“Nah, nothing like that. My exes are all great people, and I never did anything I was uncomfortable with. I say I sent spicy pictures, but, realistically? They were pretty tame. I was never nude, I never wore really skimpy underwear, stuff like that.” Amara paused for a moment, squeezing Vee’s hand as she sorted through her memories. “I know I’ve told you this before, but my transformation completely opened my eyes about who I was, who I wanted to be. I feel like my life only really started once my tail appeared, and since this is the first relationship I’ve had since then, it kinda feels like you’re my first real partner. The only person who chose to be with me after seeing everything I am, for better or for worse. So, when you’re being all cute and adorable and complimenting me… I dunno, it just feels like that’s never happened before. Not in a way that matters. Does that make sense?”

Vee giggled. “Perfect sense, love. I share a lot of the same feelings, if I’m being honest. I’ve had my fair share of suitors, and it was always difficult to imagine myself connecting with anyone like that. Although, unlike you, I don’t think I’ll celebrate my enlightenment by selling nudes to the entire campus.”

“What can I say? Now that I like who I am, showing off feels way better. Plus, I’d be lying if I didn’t say the attention can be pretty exciting at times. That’s probably my succubus blood talking, right?” Amara asked.

“You’re an absolute catch, love,” Vee said, leaning in to kiss Amara again. “I can’t imagine what the school will think when we tell everyone we’re dating. I’ve never cared much for social drama, but it tends to follow me around. I’ve actually heard that people thought we were dating as early as last year, isn’t that funny?”

“Wait, seriously?” Amara asked. “I guess we did spend a lot of time together…”

“Want to hear about the worst one?” Vee asked, to which Amara nodded eagerly. “So this guy comes up to me out of the blue, I barely recognize him, and he asks me out. He’s got this whole speech prepared and everything, but when I say no, he immediately blurts out ‘I knew it! You’re dating Amara, aren’t you!’ and I have to say no again. He then freezes up, train of thought completely out of the window, then goes ‘So she’s single? Shit, can you introduce me?’ Like, no! Buddy, that’s not how dating works!”

Vee was thankful she’d finished the story, as she lost herself to laughter. She laughed so hard so caught herself snorting, but thankfully Amara had joined in as well. They both had to stop walking due to their laughter, and it was several minutes before they started off towards downtown again. As they walked, they both swapped stories of all the strange ways people have asked them out, and that conversation carried them the rest of the way.

Downtown Ekstápoli was somewhat of a marvel when compared to most American cities. It was cleanly divided into two separate districts: one for business, and one for everything else. The business half of downtown consisted of simple, uninteresting office buildings and other various shrines to capitalism, though its tallest structures were nowhere near as magnificent as Chicago’s.

The other half of downtown Ekstápoli had managed to resist the invasive concrete vines that people called roads, and was instead a large walkable area that spanned several small parks, large plazas, and myriad different pathways that crisscrossed back and forth to provide access to the many different shops and entertainment venues that lived there. At the moment, this part of downtown was at its most beautiful.

In celebration of the holiday season, hundreds of strings of festive lights had been hung on business fronts, strung between street lamps, and dangled from decorative trellises. A massive pine tree sat proudly in the center of the district, decorated with countless lights and ornaments, though it was too early for such festive lights at the moment.

Rather than drinking in the sights, Vee and Amara instead made their way to a nearby home goods store. While Vee’s initial intent had simply been to buy nice soaps for Amara’s apartment, it was hard not to be distracted by all the other delights the store had to offer.

They spent nearly an hour lost in the bedding section alone, sampling different pillowcases and comforters while debating if it was worth investing in a new bed spread. The biggest roadblock, unfortunately, was Amara’s tendency to shred everything within reach as she slept. Between her horns and the talons on her wings, she’d already destroyed several different sets of sheets, and Amara wasn’t particularly enthused about buying something fancy with full knowledge it was destined for the dumpster.

Still, it was fun to learn more about Amara’s taste in furniture and decoration, and once they finished up in bedding, they meandered over to the heavily scented corner that held all the soaps and candles. There, Vee felt completely in her element. She loved decorating, she loved matching all the different pieces of a home together to build a cohesive visual, and she was excited to share that with Amara.

“Okay, how about this one?” Vee asked, cracking open a display candle. This one had hints of vanilla sugar, and she was already fantasizing about how the sweetness might liven up Amara’s apartment.

After a quick sniff, Amara’s face scrunched up slightly. “Um, probably not that one.”

“You don’t like vanilla?” Vee asked, closing the candle and setting it down.

“Honestly, I love the smell, but…” Amara stammered for a moment, her voice getting quieter as she continued. “Davenport’s perfume had a strong vanilla element. I’m really sensitive to smells, and I think I’d rather avoid that kind of reminder around the house.”

Right, she’s got super demon senses. I always forget about that since I can turn mine off.

“That makes perfect sense, love. What about something fruity?” Vee changed the topic quickly, eager not to dwell on their recent drama with the coven. “Ooh, this one’s got dragon fruit in it!”

They continued picking through different scents, occasionally finding a winning blend and adding it to their collection as they wandered around. Every so often they found a scent that, while enticing, made little sense in the grand scheme of things.

“I mean, what does ‘warm flannel’ even smell like?” Amara asked, studying the candle in her hands with far too much intensity. “It shouldn’t have a scent on its own; it would smell like the person wearing it, or maybe whatever detergent you put in the laundry. Like, I don’t dislike this, but seriously, who names these things?”

“Maybe it’s supposed to smell like fresh laundry?” Vee asked. “Or maybe flannel has a secret smell that only fairies can detect, and that’s what this is.”

“Hm. I don’t know,” Amara said. “I mean, even if I were hired, I wouldn’t even know how to describe what sex smells like to me. It’s also different for everyone! And I’m the only one that can smell it! How would I translate that to a candle?”

Oh yeah, she can smell arousal. I also picture it as just a visual aura, but that’s not the case at all.

Vee paused, turning over Amara’s words in her head. “What do I smell like?” she finally asked.

“You?” Amara asked, setting down the flannel candle. “Like your deodorant, mostly. Mixture of floral and fruity.”

“I meant my aura, silly,” Vee said, laughing and stepping closer. She wrapped her arms around Amara’s waist and pulled her closer, whispering into her ear. “What does my arousal smell like? Feel like? What do you taste when your tail is buried deep in my pussy?”

Amara swallowed nervously. Knowing her, she was torn between reciprocating the playful attraction and actually answering the question. “U-um, well, like I said, it’s really tough to describe that. I could say it’s the most sublime sensation I’ve ever experienced, but that doesn’t paint a picture for you. I could never do it justice, but since you’re asking… I’d say your aura is a river.”

“A river?” Vee asked, slightly caught off guard.

“On the surface, it looks calm and inviting. Sunlight dances across the top; so powerful it nearly blinds me, but instead it simply surrounds me with heat. The closer I get, the more I see that the river only appears calm. It’s hiding a powerful current so strong that it threatens to sweep me off my feet. The closer you are to finishing, the faster the river moves, turning into foaming rapids that pull me under without a second thought. Once I dive beneath the surface, however, I’m surrounded by love and safety. Instead of overwhelming me, your pleasure breathes new life into me, and for that brief moment, we become one.”

Vee swallowed nervously, her breath quickening as she listened to Amara talk. Her girlfriend had never been the most eloquent speaker, yet her description of Vee’s aura had Vee practically panting in anticipation of showing Amara those rapids once more.

“That’s…. fuck, Amara, that’s so hot,” Vee whispered.

Amara looked deep into Vee’s eyes. “If only you could see the real thing,” she whispered back.

The two kissed again, much more passionately, before their affection was cut off by the squeaky wheel of an approaching shopping cart. They quickly pulled apart, smoothing out their clothes and fixing their hair before turning their attention back to the candles, pretending that’s what they’d been doing the whole time.

They finished up their shopping trip soon after, with Vee packing all their purchases into her bag before leaving. After realizing they’d spent much more time shopping than intended, they decided to stop for lunch at a nearby sandwich place. Eating food unfortunately meant they were forced to pause their conversation, and the silence gave Vee time to appreciate their choice of activities for the day.

After such a tumultuous few months, this extended length of time without any horrible threats felt like a godsend. Amara and Vee had both decided, quite excitedly, to spend a majority of their time inside, taking full advantage of their newfound privacy to explore each other’s bodies as many times as possible. Vee had been eager to celebrate her relationship with Amara, partially due to the assumption that more threats would likely pop up soon. With each day that passed, however, nothing happened. No invaders from other planes, no government men in black suits attempting to kidnap everyone, no monsters creeping around in the dead of night. The downtime began to feel relaxing rather than stressful, and that peace was part of what inspired Vee to make today their first date.

Finishing lunch, Amara excitedly told Vee about a nearby ice cream place, and they headed there next. Despite having had ice cream a thousand times before, Vee found herself suspiciously giddy and excited over the thought of doing such a classic date activity with Amara. She ordered a large cone of rainbow sherbet for herself, while Amara ordered the thickest, most decadent scoop of chocolate they had. Frozen treats in hand, they retreated to the chill outdoor air and decided to wander over to the Demali Forest Preserve.

Snow crunched under their feet and sunlight bounced off the myriad fractal surfaces of the icicles that clung to nearby trees. Every few minutes a soft breeze raced through the park, shaking snow from the treetops and creating the illusion of playful winter weather, and the two girls happily continued their idle conversations.

“So, what are the upper limits of your illusions, anyways?” Vee asked. “I never found the time to ask Tessa how they work, and at this point I imagine you’re more of an expert than she is.”

“It’s kinda hard to explain,” Amara admitted. “It’s one of those things that has become mostly instinct for me. Nothing I make is real, it only looks real, and the trick is knowing which things aren’t ruined by that distinction. So, like, I could make food, but you wouldn’t be able to eat it. Even if I paid extra attention to maintain the illusion through the constant changing of state as you ate it, there’s nothing of substance for your body to latch on to. I could make deodorant, but it would do nothing but smell nice. All the active ingredients that fight sweat aren’t there, so it’s kinda useless as a creation. Clothes, however, only need to look good.”

“But I’ve seen you make chairs and stuff,” Vee countered.

“Furniture is pretty simple; it’s just a soft thing to sit on. There aren’t any complex processes going on, like with food or medication. It’s also harder to make things heavy; I could make a barbell that looks like it weighs a ton, but it’s actually so light a child could pick it up.”

“Huh. You really do know a lot about this, don’t you?” Vee asked.

“Well, yeah. I like to fidget, obviously, so being able to summon hellfire and whatever random stuff I want into existence? So much fun. I’ve spent a lot of time just randomly creating shit in my bedroom to see what’s possible.”

Just at that moment, a stiff breeze raced down the path the girls were walking on, and Vee shivered. Moments later, a thick pocket of warm air enveloped her, and she looked to her left to see Amara’s eyes flaring with hellish energy. The heat felt incredible, and she happily took another lick of her ice cream as they kept walking. As she was already looking at Amara, however, she couldn’t help but notice that the sudden burst of warmth was starting to have unfortunate side effects on the chocolate ice cream in her hands.

“Um, Amara….” Vee said nervously, pointing at the cone.

“What?” Amara looked down, saw the rapidly melting ice cream, and flinched in surprise. “Fuck! No!” She immediately tried to pull warmth away from her frozen confection, but it was too late. Her inner hellfire had completely melted the ice cream, which had dripped all over her hands and jacket.

“Damn it!” Amara shouted. “Fuck, it was so good, too!” With a sigh of resignation, Amara conjured a handful of hellfire and ran in up and down her arm, clearing away the mess and refreshing the illusory jacket around her. “Ugh, I’m sorry, Vee. Here you are trying to be all cute and all I’m managing to do is mess things up.”

“Oh hush,” Vee said. After the hellfire had vanished, she moved closer to Amara before holding up her own ice cream, offering to share it. “Now we can be horribly saccharine and share the same ice cream cone. If that’s not a great first date, I don’t know what is.”

With a quiet chuckle, Amara leaned over the snack and kissed Vee, their frigid lips briefly creating a strange mixture of chocolate of rainbow sherbet. As their lips separated, she then leaned down to take a small bite of ice cream, happily pulling it into her mouth before humming with contentment. Between the two of them, they made quick work of the rest of the ice cream, passing it back and forth in between small snippets of conversation.

As Amara chomped down on the last piece of the cone, Vee looked around at their surroundings. They’d been walking for quite some time and hadn’t bothered paying attention to the official paths.

“Hey, Amara,” Vee whispered, hooking her arm into Amara’s as she leaned closer. “I’ve got an idea.”

“Yeah?” Amara asked, grabbing Vee’s hand.

“Well, there’s no one around, and I was thinking…” Vee paused for a moment, hoping to playfully tease Amara with possibilities before speaking again. “Want to go flying?”

“Oh! Yeah! That sounds awesome!” Despite her surprise, Amara seemed overjoyed by the thought.

“Yes!” Vee pumped her fist in celebration, then quickly released Amara’s arm to let her transform. In a quick flash of hellfire, her girlfriend’s true form reappeared, and she happily stole a glance of appreciation at how hot Amara was before running behind her to prepare for takeoff.

Amara laughed in excitement before holding up a hand. “Alright, hold your horses. Do you want a harness or anything? Goggles?”

“Just you, love,” Vee said. “I trust you.”

Nodding in approval, Amara turned around to let Vee climb onto her back. Feeling like a kid on Christmas morning, Vee quickly connected with her own magic to enhance her senses and physicality, knowing the flight would be significantly more enjoyable if she were more resilient. Gripping Amara tight with both her legs and arms, Vee whispered that she was ready and held her breath.

“Alright, Vee, hold on tight. Takeoff’s in five, four…” Amara crouched low to the ground, her wings spreading wide while the air surrounding them buzzed with warmth and excitement.

“Three…” Amara’s wings raised high into the air, and she looked back at Vee with a playful wink.

“Two…” Without warning, Amara leapt into the air, the surprise causing Vee to scream in excitement. A brief flurry of demonic energy swirled around them as they rose into the sky, covering them with a flight mirage as they climbed. Massive leathery wings effortlessly carried them higher and higher, and Vee’s heart raced as she clung to her girlfriend.

The last time they’d flown together, she’d made Amara catch her after diving off a cliff, so this was her first experience taking off without throwing herself in mortal peril. Although it took several minutes to climb to Amara’s desired altitude, Vee swore it was over in seconds. Her eyes were glued to the horizon, to the massive forest preserve beneath her and the nearby city. She gasped in wonder as everything grew smaller and smaller, and when Amara finally leveled out, Vee sighed in relief.

“You jerk!” Vee shouted, playfully hitting Amara’s shoulder.

Amara cackled in amusement. “Oh, come on, you love it. Don’t tell me you want to be completely unattached to a safety harness, but a surprise take off is too much?”

Vee grumbled quietly. “Ugh, you know me too well.”

As Amara settled into a comfortable glide, her wings making small adjustments as she read the wind, she briefly looked back at Vee. “Where do you want to go? We probably don’t have as much time as we did last time, so heading back to Lake Michigan is out of the question.”

“Hm.” Vee squeezed Amara close, savoring the warmth of her body. “It’s a shame the Midwest has such boring geography. No mountains, no canyons, nothing.”

“Maybe the real fun is who you’re having the journey with, not where you’re going,” Amara said with a devious chuckle.

“You’re so corny, love, but damn if you’re not right this time. Maybe we just fly around a little bit? Everything is so peaceful up here.”

“Sounds good to me! One lazy succubus cruise, coming right up!”

The girls spent the next hour lazily circling the skies over Ekstápoli, occasionally making small talk, but mostly just enjoying the ambience and the company. They skimmed the tops of clouds, followed several flocks of birds around, and even hovered above a helicopter for a short while just to see what it was up to.

As enjoyable as the experience was, they both ultimately agreed to cut the flight short in favor of returning home. Amara had plans for a slightly extravagant dinner, and Vee was eager to return to an environment where conversation wasn’t muted by the rush of high-speed winds.

After landing in the middle of the Demali Forest Preserve, Amara dismissed her flight mirage and her true form. Vee took a moment to rediscover her land legs, then readjusted her bag and happily led the way back home. As they walked, she eagerly listened to Amara describe all the tiny intricacies of flight: how to detect irregularities in air currents, how best to adapt to changing pressure, things like that. Vee listened intently, fascinated by how quickly Amara had seemingly mastered such a complex activity without any formal training.

Once they returned to Amara’s apartment, she happily jumped into the kitchen to begin preparing their dinner. As she did, Vee meandered to the bathroom to replace the soap, then took a lap around the place to set up some of their other purchases. Ever since the two of them had started dating, she’d been pestering Amara to liven up her apartment a little bit, and she was happy to have found a way to make that happen.

Roughly half an hour later, as Amara was preparing to finish, she requested that Vee change into a nicer outfit in preparation for dinner. Vee, thrilled that Amara seemed just as excited about their impromptu date as she was, happily returned to their bedroom to put on a fancy dress. Examining herself in Amara’s full-length mirror, she briefly questioned her choice of attire.

Is this too fancy? It’s just dinner at home; it’s not like we’re going out or anything.

Although, she can change her outfit to match whatever I wear. There’s no reason not to go all-out, is there? Fuck it, it’s our first date. Why not?

Vee had chosen an elegant white dress that hung off one shoulder, hugged her waist perfectly and stopped at roughly her mid-thighs. It did, however, have an incredibly tasteful slit up the side that exposed more of her leg, and she had a feeling Amara would appreciate it. Eager to make tonight something special, she even took a few minutes to put on incredibly simplistic makeup. Once she was ready, she called out to Amara from the bedroom.

“Love, are you ready? Can I come out?”

“I just served dinner, you’re good!” Amara said, her enthusiasm obvious from her tone of voice.

Stepping out into the living room, Vee gasped. Amara had used her illusions to transform the entire apartment into a facsimile of a high-end restaurant. Elegant red carpet covered the floor, and a space in the middle had been cleared to make way for a cozy corner booth. Despite sitting in the middle of the floor, illusory walls had been summoned beside it, making it seem like they were legitimately sitting in the corner of a restaurant. Vee’s heart swelled with warmth as she remembered a conversation from earlier today where she’d expressed her love of corner booths. An elaborate crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting the area in warm demonic light, and a thick wooden trellis now stood in front of the kitchen counter, its many gaps filled with beautiful creeping vines that held aloft a multitude of different exotic flowers.

Vee felt like she’d just been transported to another world. The illusory restaurant around her was so perfectly designed it was genuinely hard for her to believe they were still in Amara’s apartment. Amara herself stood just off to the side, likely waiting for Vee to come out. She wore a sleek red dress that hugged her curvaceous body perfectly, and from the way it was cut, Vee suspected it didn’t have a back. Amara’s wings and tail stood proud, while her horns had thin golden chains laced between them; an accessory Vee had never seen before but instantly knew it was one of her favorite things.

Stepping closer, Vee looked deep into Amara’s eyes with a warm smile as she placed her hands on her hips. “Amara, this is incredible. This isn’t too much for you, is it?”

“For you? This is more than worth it.” Amara looked down at Vee’s outfit, a smile appearing on her face. “This is the dress you wore at my first party. Did you mean to do that?”

“Oh, really?” Vee asked, looking down at her dress again. “I totally forgot. You actually remember that?”

“I remember everything you wear, love,” Amara whispered, pulling Vee in for a kiss. “You look incredible every time I see you. When we first met you were wearing a tight blue henley. At our first sleepover, you wore fluffy flannel pants with little stars all over them, and I thought it was really cute.”

Vee blushed at the thought of Amara paying so much attention to her, even before they started dating. “That’s… absolutely adorable, Amara. I don’t know what to say!”

“You want to hear something weird?” Amara asked, and Vee quickly nodded. “I actually flashed back to the day we met, and the night of my first party, just before we kissed for the first time. The memories were really vivid, for some reason, but that’s probably a little bit of why I remember so clearly.”

“Wait, you did?” Vee cast her thoughts back to that moment. She’d been horribly disoriented, on the verge of blacking out as she struggled to hold back the specter of death itself. In that twilight state, she’d also experienced strange flashbacks. “I-I did too, Amara. To the exact same moments.”

“That… can’t be a coincidence, can it?” Amara asked.

Pausing for a moment, Vee tried to scan her thoughts for possible explanations of what divine magic could cause such a phenomenon, but her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the smell of dinner. “Honestly? I don’t think I care right now. How about we enjoy this amazing meal you’ve prepared for us?”

Amara giggled with excitement, then nodded and walked Vee over to the table. “I like the sound of that! Today, my love, we’re having perfectly cooked filet mignon. Medium rare, with a perfect crust and a blend of spices that I’ve perfected over months of experimenting. For our side, we have garlic-roasted brussels sprouts, also brought to a perfect crisp with liberal use of hellfire. As for our drinks, um…” Amara blushed slightly as she gestured at Vee’s glass. “Well, I don’t really drink ever since I learned it doesn’t really affect me, but I found an old bottle of wine Tessa left here once. I make no promises about it; my specialty is food, not drinks.”

As they settled into the booth, soft orchestral music started playing in the background. “Amara, this is amazing!” She leaned over and kissed her demonic girlfriend one last time. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

“You’re worth all of it and more, love,” Amara whispered.

They shared a few more kisses before the smell finally overwhelmed Vee and she eagerly grabbed her silverware. Her mouth watered as she cut into the steak, and when she finally tasted it, she swore she briefly experienced what it was like to feed on someone else’s aura. The blend of spices perfectly melted into the flaky crust, and the whole thing seemed to melt in her mouth as she chewed. It was so overwhelming she couldn’t even find the words to express her delight to Amara, instead simply managing some combination of suspiciously pleasure-adjacent moans.

The next forty-five minutes gave Vee one of the most delicious meals she’d had in years, if not her entire life. Amara had been cooking for her nearly every night since they started dating, but tonight she’d absolutely outdone herself.

After finishing dinner, Amara helped Vee out of the booth and quickly rearranged the entire illusory landscape to resemble a fancy ballroom. The lights dimmed even more, and the music swelled as an old-timey jazz band began sounding off, hinting at Amara’s true intentions. Staring deep into Amara’s eyes once more, Vee placed a hand on her hip and happily started dancing with the love of her life. They swayed back and forth, trading fond memories they had of each other from before they started dating, but in the end they both found themselves preferring to hold each other close and enjoy the music. It might not have been their first dance, but it was certainly the perfect capstone to a perfect day.

“I love you, Amara,” Vee whispered.

“I love you too, Vee,” Amara whispered back.

“Now that dinner’s settled a bit… any chance you want to retire to the bedroom and recuperate some of your strength?” Vee asked, playfully winking at Amara.

“Well, I didn’t want to assume that you’d put out on our first date…” Amara said, holding back a laugh.

Vee exercised no such self-control and chuckled loudly to herself, then grabbed Amara’s hand and started leading her back to their bedroom. “Oh shut up, you dork. If you don’t throw me on your bed and ravish me senseless with your tail, I’m locking you in Enochian shackles for the rest of the night!”

Her threat hanging over Amara’s head, the two of them laughed as they quickly ran into the bedroom and closed the door behind them.