Asher was an unfortunate man. He ended up in a pretty unpleasant situation. Never got on well with his family and couldn't hold a relationship or a job. It's not as if he didn't try, he was set up for failure from the get-go. His parents forced him to go to college, but he just wasn't built for it. After a hellacious fight over grades, he ended up getting kicked out of the house and dropping out of school.

He would've been more successful if he went to a trade school, he was decent with his hands after all. He could've become an electrician or a woodworker and been damn good at it too. But he only had the chance to pick up those skills much later in life, after he'd already got up to his neck in debt for something he never wanted to do in the first place. He fell in with a bad crew trying to scramble his way out of debt and ended up stuck in this place ever since.

He was miserable for a time. Every day was the same routine, selling, stealing, losing sleep. This wasn't the life he wanted for himself, but there's no way out once you're down on your luck. No amount of petty handouts can solve a broken system. Sure, it kept a scrap of food on the table but that was about it. Almost everyone who ended up here got stuck in the same cycle.

Things didn't change much until he met Orion.

The night after they met, Asher woke to an unfamiliar ceiling. The details of the night before were slowly creeping into his awareness. He'd tried to mug someone, and it went very poorly. His body still felt stiff, but he managed to sit up.

“I hope you're ready for breakfast honey. It’s the most important meal of the day!” The man from the night before called out from the nearby kitchen or he was a man last night. But they had a much different silhouette than he could recall. Their aura was the same though. The more he looked at the aura the stranger it seemed. “Honey?”

“What did you just call me?” Asher shot them a confused look.

“Honey? You're my boyfriend, right?” They asked. “Or do you not like pet names?”

“No, I-” Asher tried to speak.

“Oh. I was hoping this wasn't a one-night stand.” They sighed.

“That's not-” Asher tried again.

“Oh, thank god. Do you not like being called honey?” They asked.

“No. I’m-” he got cut off again.

“Ok. I'll keep that in mind.” They came out from the kitchen with two mugs in hand.

“Just let me fini-” Asher said.

 “Well anyway here's breakfast.” They handed him a mug.

“What’s this?” Asher asked.

“A cup brownie, you know like cup noodles but brownies?” Orion explained.

“This is not a breakfast food.” Asher quipped, he looked at them confused. “So, what exactly is going on here?”

“If you won't eat it I will. Oh. Wait, I know why you’re confused, I was probably a man when we met. I’m not catfishing you! Honestly! I’m a shadow so I'm just a bit of a shapeshifter. Don’t worry about it. Let me just.” Orion tried to focus, “Ok I might be too hung over to do it properly right now, but I promise I’ll be whatever you prefer when I figure it out.”

“Don't? That’s not the problem here.” Asher said.

“Oh. Then what is it?” They asked.

“Do you not remember anything about last night?” Asher asked.

“I must have forgotten did we have a fight or something? I’m sorry or uhh I forgive you.” They said quickly finishing the food, “Now that that's over. I need to go out and pick up some things, let’s go.”

“That's not a good idea.” Asher said. “I don't really go out during the daytime.”

“Are you some kind of vampire or something?” Orion eyed him carefully.

“No, I’m just part demon. It’s just not safe and I-.” He got cut off yet again.

“Then it’ll be fine. I’ll protect you.” They said stringing Asher along. “Come on. Hurry up.”

Asher followed Orion to a small marketplace he'd never seen before. He already knew he was far away from anything familiar, but this place seemed weirdly lively and almost wholesome compared to what he was used to. The only caveat being that a number of them had no souls.