Aofe
It was not that day.
Or the next.
And after so many failed attempts, Aofe was convinced she was never going to get them to work.
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, the sunlight slow to relieve the stiffness from bending over for so long. But at least it was warm, and the more time she spent inside the greenhouse, the less her failures seemed to weigh on her.
There were other things she could do. Other ways that fulfilled her besides a silly feat of magic she didn’t really need to perfect.
One eye popped open, immediatelynarrowing to the paper she was practicing on. The ink stains, seemingly flawless despite not sparking any reaction, stared back at her. Mocking.
“Gosh darn it,” Aofe muttered, then hunched over once more to try again.
But two more tries with no bloom from the potted flower in front of her, and she was officially too exhausted to continue.
Dejected, she took up her crutches and headed to the main building with Attie trotting close behind.
When Aofe stepped through the back door to the shop, she almost questioned the eerie silence until there was a low muttering from the front that drew her attention. She moved through the aisles, careful of a few vines that needed pruning, before pausing just on the other side of a shelf so she could peer through the gap at the shop owner.
Kizros had both elbows pressed on the front counter where he leaned forward, fingers woven through his hair between his horns. His other hand held an unfolded parchment over the ledger, eyes scanning the text and oblivious to her spying.
He looked beautiful and raw in that moment, hair mussed and glasses slipping down his nose. A quiet moment where he was absorbed in his work, and Aofe recalled her own quiet memories from the past few days.
His smiles and reassurances when her rune didn’t work. The way he no longer froze after a long rant about soil composition to apologize for talking her ear off. The softtouches and longer looks that could no longer be called stares, but something more.
Home wasn’t the only thing she felt now with Kizros. But that word she wanted to say—the three words, really—never seemed to slip off her tongue. She wished she wasn’t a coward. Wished her past didn’t rear its ugly head every time she considered speaking the words. Kizros was not her past, but the doubts and insecurities had buried themselves deep, wrapped around her heart like the vines with thorny needles kept in the deeper parts of the greenhouse.
How long until he’s tired of making accommodations for me?
When will he call my low points too much to handle?
What if there comes a point he finds my inability to get out of bed to be laziness?
All ridiculous questions. Kizros wasn’t capable of an ill thought toward anyone—except perhaps that yellow demon from the festival and the slavers who had taken her. The past few days had proven it, and Aofe cared for him because he’d shown her the truth. He may not be a fighter, but he’d fought for her in ways that didn’t require fists, and that meant enough to her that she could be brave enough for this.
When she wanted something, she wasn’t afraid to say it.
And when Aofelovedsomeone, she wasn’t going to let her past hold her back.
She steeled herself and had taken one step out of the aisles when the bell over the front door chimed.
Kizros’s head jerked up, first to the door, then to Aofe, and then he shoved the paper he was holdinginto the pages of the ledger and slammed it shut. If his suddenly rigid spine hadn’t communicated his discomfort, the tensing of his jaw and claws extending from his flexing hand were dead giveaways.
And then the voice filling the space made dread coil in her belly.
“A bit quiet in here today.”
Kizros only gave Aofe a flash of a warning look before he was donning a tight smile for the demon. “Tholvich.”
The large blue demon’s fangs were on full display, as were the barbs along his forearms. “Kizros. Wanted to stop in after I glimpsed you at the festival the other night. Didn’t get a chance to catch up, and I’ve been so busy the last few days I had to close for a break just to come by.” He turned, presumably to stroll the aisles like he’d done the last time he was here, then noticed Aofe. His eyes narrowed briefly before dropping to Aofe’s legs. “Well, you’ve made some questionable business choices in the past, but an atteapirinside?” Tholvich chuckled and shot a glance back to Kizros. “Business so bad you’re considering torching your own place for the insurance?”
Attie growled, and after several nudges, Aofe realized the creature was herding her toward Kizros and away from Tholvich.
“Is there something I can help you with?” Kizros asked, and though his tone appeared bored, Aofe saw the way his hand was lifting from behind the desk as he flexed his claws. It wasn’t until she’d made it behind the counter, his soft palmfinding her thigh where the other demon couldn’t see, that she realized he’d been herding her just as much as Attie.
Tholvich let out a long sigh, giving a cursory glance at Tim who wriggled in his pot, before stepping wide of the plant toward the counter. “I don’t know what has gotten into you lately, Kizros. Are we not friends?”
