I could write a full blown novel on all the big, little, and in-between things that make me happy and proud to be with Demon, but I wanted to try to focus on one aspect of him in particular.

He is honest.

Because of my background, dishonesty triggers me to a major degree. I have trouble with white lies, even, because I know how major liars will use minor lies for misdirection purposes. I came out of a family in which lies and manipulation were just par for the course. I had to fight hard to recognize the pattern repeating itself in me and try to break it. My early efforts at this were terrible, and one result of it ended in me coming out of a relationship which, if I'd been any other sort of person, probably would have propelled me down the path of vengeful man-hater and incurable cynic. After a long break, I met Demonspawn.

Demonspawn is just . . . Demonspawn, in every situation, in every social setting, at work, with friends, with just me, with children and animals, with the elderly and with those in their prime. It may just be that his personality is such that it fits any situation well, but he's the only person I've ever known who doesn't even do a slight personality shift to suit different social settings. He's open and friendly and has no fear of anyone judging him for who he actually is.

He's not the type to give an undeserved compliment. If he doesn't like something he won't be goaded into false praise for the mere sake of keeping the peace. He's also happy to heap praise onto that which he does like, so no one is ever left feeling like crap from a lack of encouragement. He's the first human I've met who gives me no pause with their praise. I've never felt the need to second guess his happiness with me, to wonder if he just says I look pretty to avoid an argument, or any of that sort of nonsense. Everything can be taken at face value, and it's wonderful.

When he makes promises, they're promises. When he tells a story, he tells it exactly how he remembers it, and his memory is keen. If for some reason he cannot tell me something, I feel perfectly safe in my knowledge that his reasons are good and that he's not trying to hide anything from me. Every time he is with me, I'm insulated from a world of deceit by a blanket of trust that I hadn't known I was capable of feeling.

A benefit of all this is that now that I have firsthand knowledge of how honest people can be, I'm better at recognizing honesty in others. The quality of my social circle has gone up, and as a result so has my confidence and happiness. I can no longer recognize the timid, useless, anxiety riddled twit that I once was. It's not that he's made me this way (no one has that power over you but yourself), it's that his honesty and encouragement has helped me to accept that I may very well be as badass as he thinks I am, which lets me be badass for him. Which is pretty badass. :)