Ridley

I had left my window open since this morning, having absolutely no idea when Vandel was going to actually arrive.

The day had lulled on and the feast was drawing nearer and nearer. I hoped Vandel hadn't gotten confused on the date or that something had happened.

Those thoughts kept racing through my mind, twisting my stomach to knots as I sat in my room polishing Crystalbreaker. That's when all of a sudden a little black raven practically zoomed through the window. It was going so fast that it took me a moment to realize that if it continued on its current trajectory it was going to crash directly into me.

"Vandel watch out!"

But it was too late. The little raven slammed into my face, full force, causing me to drop my sword. Almost immediately upon making contact Vandel transformed back into his human form.

"Ow," Vandel muttered under his breath. "Gods that hurt."

My fingers drifted to my forehead which still stung from the contact. "Any reason in particular you decided to fly in with a vengeance today?" I mumbled.

Vandel sighed heavily, plopping down at the edge of my bed before proceeding to cross his arms. "I'm just in a really bad mood."

I arched a brow. "Really, why?"

His gaze darted to the ground. "It's complicated. I just ran into someone I hadn't seen in a long time and uh... it didn't exactly go great."

I quickly averted my gaze away from Vandel's form, remembering he was as naked as always.

"Hey," I said quickly, "I actually got you something."

Vandel's face lit up immediately. "Oh! A present?!? I love presents!"

"I assumed you did." I reached under my bed, quickly removing two neatly folded items. "You said you store clothing at checkpoints you visit often and uh..." I hated the fact that I could feel my cheeks growing warm. "Well you come here a lot so I decided to buy you something you could wear when you're here."

Vandel's eyes had widened slightly as he slowly unfolded the items. "You got me...clothes?"

I swallowed hard, fidgeting uncomfortably. He was probably going to hate them. Gods, why had I thought this was a good idea?

"Yeah...uh...I know I'm not as style err...oriented as you are. I tried to get princess Annette's opinion on them and she said she thought they were nice but compared to your usual standard I know they're probably pretty ugly-"

"Oh for God's sake stop rambling Ridley."

I glanced over to him and realized with a start that he had already put them on. I had simply guessed on his measurements and I was honestly more than a little shocked at how well everything seemed to fit.

"So uh...what do you think?" I stammered, bracing myself for the answer.

"They're cute."

My jaw nearly hit the floor.

"You think the clothes are cute?"

Vandel crossed his arms. "Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are. Obviously it's not top of the line couture but...it's sweet." His gaze flickered to the floor. "Thanks I...uh...I guess."

For some reason I felt a strange fluttery feeling in my chest when he said that.

That was...odd.

I swallowed hard, trying my best to ignore the feeling. "Okay, so the plan is that I'll sneak you into the feast in my pocket and then once it's underway you'll sneak out on your own to investigate while I question the nobles, right?"

Vandel gave me a small nod. "Right. When I'm in my bird form I won't be able to communicate with you verbally so please don't do anything too stupid."

My eyes widened. "What? Why would you think I'm the one who would do something stupid? I should be the one saying that to you!"

Vandel rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Oh yeah? Well I wasn't the one who almost got myself killed because I rushed into a death trap in enemy territory without formulating a proper plan!"

"Are you serious? You're going to ridicule me for not having a proper plan while being the most impulsive person I've ever met."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! That is not true! Name ONE time I was impulsive."

"I would love to but we'd be here all night."

"Gods, you're the absolute WORST. You know that, right?" He sighed heavily. "Now, as much as I would love to continue our usual bickering and bantering the feast is probably about to start. I should transform back into my bird form."

I nodded. "Yeah...uh before you do that and we can't talk verbally anymore I just wanted to bring something up that's been bothering me since the last time we saw each other."

"Is it about the kiss?"

My cheeks grew warm. "No! Of course not! Gods, not everything is always about you Vandel."

"Yeah, well it should be."

"Gods you're impossible." I adjusted myself awkwardly on the bed. "What's been bothering me was the Bone Monster attack that happened at the ball. The Ancients told us that the Bone King needs to be nearby to control the monsters and the closer he is the larger they are. That was the biggest Bone Monster I'd ever seen, he must have been extremely close to have created it-"

I was cut off as Vandel suddenly reached forward and bopped my nose. "Ridley as much as I would love to dive into yet another mystery I think we've got our plate quite filled for the day with this feast so let's try to focus on that at least for now."

I took a deep breath. "I suppose you're right. Thanks Vandel, sometimes I get a little too caught up in my own head in regards to these kinds of things and-"

"I know," Vandel said suddenly, cutting me off.

"What?"

"I said I know," Vandel repeated. He sighed heavily, flopping onto his back on my bed. "And I shouldn't know those kinds of things, that's the annoying part. I hate the fact that I know your habits. I hate that I know you snore when you sleep. I hate that I always know what you're probably thinking because you're always so predictably self righteous that it's ridiculous. I just...Gods I hate how well I know you."

I shifted awkwardly. "Why?"

Vandel sat up now, arching a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Why is it such a bad thing?" Something felt weird in my chest, it felt tight and (like the fluttering) I wasn't quite sure what I was experiencing. I had never felt like this before.

Something flickered across Vandel's expression for a moment. "You of all people seriously want to know why it's a bad thing?" The demon took a deep breath, his gaze meeting mine when he spoke. "It's because I'm your enemy Ridley. No matter how much we try to sugarcoat it with this alliance bullshit at the end of the day I'm still a demon and you're still a human. I've been alive for over 200 years and I'll probably be around long after your bones have turned to dust. I've seen this war rage on for ten times your life time and nothing ever fucking changes. Do you really think there can be a future for two people like us? Do you really think a demon and a human can be friends? Yes we're working together now because it's convenient but what happens after? Everything has to end. Eventually we're going to go our separate ways, we've always known that's how it has to be. And that's why I hate how well I know you Ridley. Because if I didn't really know you then maybe our inevitable separation wouldn't feel so...so..." he shook his head suddenly. "You know what, never mind. It doesn't matter. We're wasting time. We need to concentrate on the mission at hand."

"Wait Vandel, shouldn't we talk about what you just-"

"There's nothing more to talk about Ridley," Vandel said, his voice unnaturally soft. "We both know this is the way things have to be. It's what's best. Already we're...we're too close. Can't you see that?"

I swallowed hard, a strange swell of emotions pooling up in my chest. He was right. There was no way this friendship (though neither of us would ever call it that to the other's face) could last once our missions were complete. I had known that from the beginning so...why did I feel like this?

Vandel gave me a little nudge now. "Hey, don't give me that face. We still have plenty of work to do until then."

I took a deep breath.

He was right. That meant it was time to do what I always did whenever I started to feel emotional. Block it out with work. I would just have to work myself until I stopped feeling, until I stopped caring. It had always worked before now, why should this situation with Vandel be any different.

I looked to Vandel now, forcing a smile. "Alright, let's go to the feast."