Sunflower🌻

He was getting reoccurring nightmares. 

Not the nightmares that showed haunted hallways, flashes of blood and death, or being late somewhere on an important day. You know, the kind you would expect when Halloween was nearing.

No, he had his usual dreams, mind filled with strange combinations of things he had seen before. An old neighbor here, a strange forest there, many images played too fast for him to follow as he tried to run away with his feet stuck in quicksand.

Only ever since a week ago, there was something else. 

It was something that could have jumped straight from his nightmares. A dark figure, nothing more than a silhouette, and it seemed to appear in all his dreams, never doing anything. It just stood there, and watched.

Even when he woke up, he would still see the figure. With his eyes gazing out into the dark of his bedroom, he would see the shadow of a figure, even more black than the darkness around it, move towards the window before it slipped through the cracks out into the night. 

And then there was this new colleague of his at work, a man not quite like everyone else, and it was almost scary how much interest he showed in Steve, for seemingly no reason at all. 

It would be best to stay out of the man’s way.

-^-

Bucky hated working, but this time it was for a good cause. Hell was organizing a party, breaking open the gates for Halloween, so that all creatures could have their fun. The thing was, most demons took a date to the Unholy Feast, preferably something they could brag about.

A week ago, when Rumlow had been boasting about his own date for far too long, Bucky had accidentally snapped back he was going to get a date no one else had ever had before; a huge mistake. Now, everyone was waiting to see what he would bring. Most of the usual options were out of the question; no werewolf, vampire, ghoul, witch or ghost would cut it this time, they would laugh in his face and never let him live it down. 

Then, like a literal gift from the heavens, Bucky crossed paths with a creature he knew would grant him prosperity, respect and admiration for years to come. After all, no demon in thousands of years had ever taken an angel to the Unholy Feast before. 

There were some problems to it, of course. His vampire date of last year had been more than up for a party of Hell, but he figured an angel would surely throw a fit. 

It would be a lot of work, but Bucky was going to have this date, whether the angel wanted it or not. 

|X|

Or: Steve is just trying to live his life, pushing through the strange dreams and even stranger coworkers. He did not expect being attacked in his own home, kidnapped somewhere far away, and put into ridiculously expensive robes, only to sit at a table with people in costumes that looked far too real to be fake.

Bucky is a demon looking for a special date to bring to the Halloween fest, and what’s more special than an angel? Snatching the guy from his house proved quite the task, but having the most gorgeous creature sit next to him at the Unholy Feast, receiving jealous stares from all the others, makes it more than worth it.

“I know you’re not really here.”

The silence that dawned in the room was thick with tension and sadness. Bucky stood by the window, following the lines in the white wood that formed the frame with his eyes, trying to not think about anything. 

He drew in a soft breath, tearing his eyes away from the steady fall of droplets hitting the glass, ticking in a melodic rhythm as it did in his ears. “Why would you say that?”

With the vague shrug of his shoulders, Steve curled further into himself on the bed. It was set in the corner, so Steve was pressed against the angle where the two walls met, hugging a pillow to his chest as he blinked and moved his head sluggishly, falling asleep but never quite, and he jerked up once in a while as he shook himself awake. “’s what the doctors say.”

“They don’t know shit,” Bucky said, not moving from his spot though he wanted to so badly. “They’re just puttin’ pills in you because they don’t understand. You gotta stop it. You don’t have to do that.”

A shake of a head, Steve curled further into himself. “You’re not really here.”

 Bucky swallowed, his fingers clenching on the window frame as he thought about breaking it to pieces. They did this to him. Those stupid humans with their pills and their needles. “I’ll fix this, Steve. I promise.”

“You can’t promise me anything. You’re not really here.”

|X|

Or: Steve sees a man no one else can see. A man whose eyes glow when he gets riled up, and a man who can make things float with his mind. He must be crazy. He must be insane. The doctors say that too. They say he is confused, and sees things he should not. 

Around a year ago, Bucky had wondered into the wrong house, and, by accident, got so horribly attached to the occupant who beamed like the sun. At first he was just curious, now he feels nothing but guilty, as he has to watch the innocent soul break down piece by piece. 

Demon’s promise, he’s gonna fix it. 

Being a college student is not easy, especially when you have to learn all these difficult languages. Latin has never quite been Steve’s specialty, and the words always come out bumbling and stuttering. He has to learn this before tomorrow, though. He needs a good grade for this. But the clock is ticking and he begins to panic.

That panic has not at all helped in his learning process, and it’s starting to drive him to dangerous and desperate levels. In the midst of a 3 A.M coffee binge, Steve ends up chanting the words out loud in attempt to get them into his head. It sounds like shit, he knows that, but he just has to remember how to write them.

Just like that, he feels a soft, midnight breeze stroke his bare skin, even though the windows are closed, and the prickle of eyes staring at him.

Large, yellow-flickering eyes. 

"You summoned me?"

His brain stops. Steve thinks he might faint. But then he gets a sudden, bright idea. With his best set of puppy eyes he looks up at the fairly attractive man (demon?) in his room, and he pleads, "I have to learn this for tomorrow, can you please quiz me?"

After a moment of confused silence, the demon says yes, and Steve ends up getting a pretty good grade for the test. Not something to brag about, but it will help him pass so he’s long glad. Now, he can get back to his normal stuff, his art projects and all, and his future. There’s just one problem, though.

The demon won’t leave.