After my new friend had been in the bath for a while, Bear eventually wound up making it back home, walking through the door and pausing at the sight of me.
"Welcome home, honey!" I said, throwing my arms out to my sides.
His eyes widened slightly as he stayed completely motionless.
'I really can't phase him… Dang, he's harder to get than Air.' "Sorry… I just always wanted to say that. Anyway, I saved an orphan girl from becoming a demon, and she needed a bath, so I brought her here, you don't mind, right?"
He slowly stepped inside, patting my head as he walked to the kitchen and started a fire under the stove. "This girl. She needs food?"
'Why do I suddenly feel like I just lost something…' "She got demon blood in her mouth… So everything tastes unBEARably bitter. But, she will probably still eat something."
He nodded. "I'll make some for you, too."
'How is he so serious all the time? Air would have at least pretended to laugh… I think… I should probably calm down… My real personality is showing through too much…'
"How's Rune?" He asked, starting to grill several slabs of meat.
"She's good… Really good, actually. Have you not been able to see her recently?"
"Well, you all talk about her big smiles and her playful nature, but when I'm around, she seems nervous. I think I scare her. Either way, it seems like she smiles more when I'm not there."
'Poor guy…' "It's not that... She's probably just embarrassed because you're a guy, and you've seen her naked, which does NOT help. At least, that would be my guess, given my own interactions with her."
He flinched slightly.
'Whoa, a reaction?'
"Hm… I'm not so sure…"
"You're also not exactly easy to talk to. A man of very few words. You could try memorizing some children's stories or something." He nodded again, taking my every word so seriously it started making me a little nervous, like I could wind up putting her in a difficult situation just with one slip of the tongue.
"I used to read to her when she couldn't sleep. It helped both of us since learning to read was difficult for me without a teacher."
'That's kinda sweet actually…'
He cleared his throat. "You should check on your friend. I'm almost done cooking."
"Oh, you know what, I bet she'll love to meet you. You're half-troll, right? Well, she's half goblin."
"Very little similarity. She'd relate to Rune more. I was born strong."
"Oh… Yeah, that's fair…" I sighed. 'It's a good thing he doesn't get offended easily… But that's just another reason it's easy to talk to him, I guess… He's the only person I can really just say whatever and not have to worry about it… Still, I can't believe I made a pun with his name… There's no way he secretly hates me for that, right?'
He stared back at me, his eyes glancing at the bathroom door several times before I refocused. "Right! Yes… I'll go check on her."
When I carefully opened the door and snuck inside, I saw her staring up at the ceiling with closed eyes. "Hey… Are you awake?"
She slowly rolled her head towards me. "Is it time to get out?"
"Yeah. My friends are here. So whenever you're ready. Although it might get cold if you wait too long."
"Get cold?" She tilted her head, getting out of the tub right in front of me, making me awkwardly turn away. 'Maybe she's not easily embarrassed after all?'
"The food… I mean… That's… Sorry, what's your name? I know I should have asked this a long time ago and everything, but if I wait any longer, er, it will just keep getting more and more awkward until I…" I closed my mouth as she stared at me blankly as if she had forgotten about it, too.
"It's… Vive…"
"Right… Call me Siya…" I muttered before nervously leaving the room. 'Ever since merging souls with the dragon, even in this form, this stuff feels so weird!… Knowing he's watching… Or I guess I don't actually know that… He's probably napping honestly…' I sighed, turning back around to Bear. "Bear… Do you think I'm getting more awkward?"
"Yes, but you make it work."
'What does that even mean…' I sighed again, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "A ruthless commander that's coated in the blood of her enemies and sends them running in terror… That's what was written in my last battle report by my supervisor…"
He finished taking the food off the stone slab above the fireplace and plated it. "Little do they all know you're just a little lizard that turns red more often from embarrassment than actual fire breath."
As if on cue, I felt my face heat up. "That just makes me sound cute, not awkward…" I whined. 'My face doesn't actually turn red when I breathe fire, does it?'
"There's a difference? Either way, you seem rather adept at both." He said plainly, casually setting the table for three.
"It's hard to tell if you're insulting me or not."
"As intended."
I shook my head with a smile, shoving him, only making him move slightly as he grinned back softly before putting the food on the table and heading to close the window next to the bathroom that was letting the smoke out.
As he closed it, though, Vive opened the bathroom door, only wearing her underwear, and slowly tilted her head back until she could see all the way up to his eyes. Then they slowly went all the way back down to straight ahead, which happened to be just below his waist…
On the one hand… I finally got to see what he looked like after being phased… The exact same for the most part, though… His eyes had rolled back in his head… And he was completely nonresponsive.
She slowly tilted her neck back again. "So… Are you the one I have to behave for?"
'I feel like… There's been a misunderstanding…'
"Siya… Made sure my mouth was clean… So…"
I nearly tripped, standing up, almost falling on my face as I quickly pushed myself between them, shoving Vive back into the bathroom and closing the door, plastering my back against it like something was trying to break through.
After I calmed my breathing, our eyes met… But my mind was completely blank on what I was actually supposed to say… Or even what kind of situation I had created in this house…
"Was it not him?" She asked, nervously covering her mouth with one hand.
I was still completely speechless, barely even able to comprehend the situation I was in. 'Is this my fault? I mean… I can't be THAT awkward that I made her think that's why I was taking care of her, right? No… Wait… I didn't even ask her for her name, of course, she's not going to think we're friends or that I'm just being nice… Uh… Uh… What do I do now…'
"Siya?" She tilted her head.
"Let's start… With… Uhm… Putting your clothes on… The point of underwear is to go on UNDER your clothes. Hints the name…"
"Well, that's stupid… I thought it was to make you more attractive… Otherwise, what's the point? If you're covered, then you're covered, right?"
"Well… That explains why it's all red and black…"
"Does it not look good?"
'I genuinely don't know what I'm supposed to say right now…' "It's… Fine… But we should get you dressed before the food gets cold. It's already been served."
"Bye, food you mean–"
"I mean food!" My voice cracked. "Slabs of hot juicy meat so big you can't fit it all in your mouth." My face suddenly heated up even more as I sank down to the floor, "Like… Steak… From a cow…" I whimpered, once again feeling defeated. "Just put your clothes on, please…" I squeaked. "I'll explain everything later… But you won't have to take them off… And the only thing that will be going in your mouth is… real food… Like what you tried eating earlier today, remember?"
Her skin suddenly shuddered as if she had gotten a chill that covered her whole body at once. Just like that, she was the one who was speechless. Though I wasn't sure if it was my words… Or my sorry state that made her so.
To be perfectly honest, I had hoped that I was now the one misunderstanding something… But… I couldn't bring myself to ask. Before either of us could move, a knock came on the door that vibrated my whole body and made me almost scream. "Girls… That food is getting cold…"
'Right… Right…' "Ok, let's get you dressed…" 'I can't believe I've said that three times, and she's still not wearing any clothes! What's wrong with this? Wait, no, calm down… It's not her fault…' I took a deep breath, finally calming down… At least… For a moment… Until I realized that Bear… Probably heard just about everything that had come out of my mouth… Of course, thanks to my dragon's blood, I was still able to move and function… But well… When we finally came back out, my face was still beet-red. Meanwhile, she was so calm it was as if she wasn't even there for any of what happened... Eventually, we managed to sit down and start eating, but at that point, I wasn't all that hungry; too much blood pooled in my head for my stomach to have enough to want food.
"It's… Good…" She said cautiously, having a hard time taking her eyes completely away from Bear as if she was waiting for him to suddenly pull out an ax and charge."
'Does she not trust me? Why would I lie?'
"Thanks…" He said back slowly.
"Vive… You're lying…" I sighed, slumping forward in my chair. "It's bitter, isn't it…"
"So bitter…" She grumbled.
Bear let out a long, soft hum. "Because of the demon's blood, right? Siya, does it taste alright?"
I nodded. "It's fine… Demons' blood stains everything it touches… So if that IS the reason… It will be a few days before her sense of taste returns… But if that's not it, then I doubt it will ever come back… Honestly, I'm just glad she can eat food at all. Demons don't really have stomachs to make room for a second heart. They mostly survive off invisible forces of energy similar to manna. They essentially eat negative emotion, even their own."
"Hm…"
I glanced back at her. "They also have some pretty crazy powers, too…" 'I wonder if she kept any of those… Actual teleportation… And that scythe that could hold up against my soul-infused sword…'