Dating : The Sacred Words of Summoning

I heard the clacking of my coworker’s keyboard as I reached over to grab my coffee. As I reached, the screen on my computer froze and I lost focus, spilling the coffee and cursing in gibberish under my breath. My coworker shook in his cubicle and said in a drawling voice,

“No one has called on me in millennia.”

His eyes had changed to a dark shade of red as he gazed at me intently. I looked at him worried, as he stood up slowly and made his way to my cubicle.

“Heeey, John. You feeling okay?” I asked, inching my chair back.

“You have said the magic summons, have you not? What ails you?” he asked, taking a huge step into my comfort zone.

“Well, for one, you’re getting creepily close,” I muttered.

“Ah,” he looked down at himself, patting his chest and torso. “This form is displeasing to you? I can dispose of this one and acquire another if you so choose,” he said, digging into his pocket for something.

“What do you mea — Oh my God — Put that — Don’t — I’m not — “ I kept stumbling over my words as John held a pocket knife less than an inch away from his neck. He looked at me diligently as his hand remained frozen.

“Is this form ‘creepy’ or is it not?” he asked, tapping the knife to his neck.

“No! No! You’re fine, just uhh… take a step away from me!”

He took a dutiful step back, still holding the knife to his neck. He may have pricked the skin.

“Gently put the knife away, without causing yourself any harm,” I said, with my arms trembling.

“Strange way to phrase it. I may damage the being I possess, but I wouldn’t cause myself any harm.” He returned his knife to his pocket and I sighed in relief. We stared at each other for a couple of seconds while I waited for him to explain what was going on.

“What ails you?” he finally asked.

“Nothing! I — “

“Then why did you say the sacred words??” he demanded. He sounded like a parent scolding me for messing with emergency services. His eyes burned a deeper red, and I thought of something as quick as I could.

“Uhh… my computer!! It froze on me again. And since we’re here after hours there was no one to ask to fix it.” I was surprised by how articulate I was, but then again, I was telling the truth. It was just John and me in the office. Which made it all the more frightening.

“I will ease the task,” John said, raising his hands and closing his eyes.

Suddenly, every computer in the office started whining loudly. The pitch grew higher and higher until they started to burst or have their monitors cracked one by one. I yelped and jumped back. John lowered his hands and looked at me expectantly.

“What did you do!?!?” I yelled.

“I overloaded the computers,” he answered plainly.

“Yeah that!! Why did you do?” I said, readopting my more inarticulate self.

“If all computers cannot function, then there is no reason to stay overtime. Insurance will cover all computer repairs, and security cameras were broken as well. Does that satisfy you?”

I could only look at him shocked. He nodded his head and the red hue faded from John’s eyes, returning to its natural brown. He rubbed his temples for almost a minute before looking up and speaking.

“What the heck just happened??” he said, astonished.

I looked around me, trying to think of a way to explain it all at once. I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

“Uhhhh… You see….” I couldn’t think of anything. Well, I could think of one thing to get away with having to explain it.

I said the sacred words again.