Symbiosis...ish: Part One

[WP] You've been infected by a sentient, eldritch parasite. Realizing it's counting on you for its own survival, the parasite offers occult knowledge, wisdom, and secrets in return for the host's sustenance and protection. Describe this unlikely friendship.

*****

Eldritch.

Meaning weird and sinister, or ghostly according to an online search.

At least my problem now had a name. A logical explanation was probably pushing my luck and the limits of science, so I was a bit content with knowing the name of my problem. For now.

I should have known that going for that team hangout was a bad idea. But my supervisor wouldn't;t hear of it - I had missed the last four hangouts, dinners, and get-togethers, giving excuses all the way. One more and I'd receive a query from my boss, and the HR Department would summon me, I knew it.

So I agreed to go with four other colleagues, including my supervisor, ALL of whom had their own weird characters and mannerisms.

Aaliyah Baxter, my team supervisor. She was only about three years older than the rest of us fresh 22-23-year-old graduates, but she had this wisdom, sense of responsibility, and overall aura around her that made her a great leader. She also had a great sense of humor and she was very kind. I agreed to come to the hangout mostly because of her character as a person.

Elena Klein. She was quiet, calm, and very sharp. I'd say that she had the best brains on the team, and she did. She also had a sassy, witty mouth that could drop anything from stinging to scathing remarks, depending on the situation, Of course, she had a 'resting b!tch face', but she was also a nice person who you could talk to easily. Just don't get on her nerves.

Gerald Garrick. His parents must have been literature professors or something and thought that the alliteration would be witty or funny. It wasn't. If it wasn't already tacky and cringe-y as hell, his character made things worse. Gerald was the guy with the dad jokes that always turned tense or funny situations into awkward ones pretty fast. Not to talk of the fact that he was a crazed anime fan - now I watch anime, but I don't talk about it and make references to it everywhere I go, the hell?

 Adam Strange. Yeah, and my job isn't a superhero agency - those don't exist, at least to the best of my knowledge they don't - so that's really his name. Strange. Apparently, his parents were very big fans of Marvel Comics so they thought it'd be a great idea to change their last name to Strange. Adam was not a geeky comic book lover, that'd be cliche, right? He was a klutz. Clumsy as hell, but very hardworking. He also fantasized about seeing all of the women at the workplace in MCU cosplay, so that was weird in itself,

And then you have me. Chris Okocha. As you might have guessed, I was just the boring, quiet employee that just got their job done on time and got their monthly paycheck. I couldn't;t give a damn about any of my teammates, colleagues, or about the job itself. The pay was okay, so I could put up with this weird group of people, after all, I did a good job of avoiding them so far.

But ow I was standing outside the bar, wondering why the hell I didn't just fire a nail gun into my own foot to generate a genuine excuse this time.

Gerald brought in the 'Would You Rather game - like I said, cringe-y. and since everybody was either buzzed, tipsy, or just drunk, they agreed.

And then the question pipped up. It was Elena of course, no one had such a sharp tongue and a sly, mind that delighted in placing people on hot seats.

"Chris, would you rather be possessed by an eldritch demon or come to another one of these hangouts?"

Everyone laughed, and I was a bit lightheaded too so I laughed as well. "As much as I 'enjoy; your interesting and colorful company, y'all, I'd go for the demon any day. I'll just add it to my collection of inner demons I'm struggling with."

Everyone laughed while Aaliyah raised an amused eyebrow. "Well, I'd like to see that collection soon."

Elena had a weird, triumphant smile on her face as she eyed me, but I shook it off.

It was the alcohol.

It had to be the alcohol.

*****

"Elena chose a fine host this time around, thankful. Damn, you look and feel fit as hell. A proper vessel! I'll enjoy making use of this body," my reflection in the mirror said to me the next morning.

It was a miracle how I did not fall to the ground immediately, though my legs were light as feathers.

"Did you just-"

My reflection suddenly focused its eye on me. "Wait, I thought you were just a fragment of conscience left. There's still this much of our own presence left?"

I looked closely and sure enough, my reflection in the mirror was moving of its own accord, even speaking.

I picked up my phone and dialed Elena's number. I didn't know what the hell was going on, but I didn't like it one bit.

"Elena, what the -"

"Oh, and here I thought I'd be speaking to Havok already", she said in a slightly surprised but generally normal tone. She sounded like she had been expecting my call, and that she knew what was going on.

Well of course she did,

"We're meeting at the Moonbucks Cofee on 44th. 7:00 PM, TODAY. SHARP."

*****'

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I've already been tricked by this nice prompt into writing another series!