Aofe giggled as Tim explored the exposed skin of her wrist, avoiding the metal Kizros had called a rune. She twisted her head so she could look up at the demon. “Wait, if someone was trying to steal something from the shop, he’d react? He’s a guard plant?”
Kizros blinked, then huffed a laugh. “Yeah, I guess he is.”
She played with Tim for another minute before he slowly retracted to curl against the shelf again. It wasn’t until the vine was still that Kizros slowly removed his arm from holding hers up, and while Aofe felt guilty about needing his assistance for something so simple, he almost looked nervous as he turned away and rubbed at the place where they’d touched.
Quickly, he began talking about everything she’d bedoing as an assistant for him, and the confusion was lost in a panic to keep up.
Aofe followed him diligently around the shop, wishing she had been able to sit and write it all down as he rambled on, but when he repeated the same instruction for the fourth time during the tour, she realized something.
“You weren’t prepared for hosting me, were you?”
Kizros froze mid-sentence, then adjusted his glasses. “Ah, you figured that out?”
She swallowed, feeling a small glimmer of hope fizzle out at the thought of being reassigned to another demon for work. Ifhedidn’t have use for her, who would?
But it was Kizros who was faster than her disappointment. “It’s not a problem,” he said, almost too quickly, but there wasn’t a twitch in his eye or a look of queasiness to his features, so she believed him. “I just have to get used to an assistant again, and with our species being different, I’ll admit I don’t know much about human ailments or any medicines you might need. But you have that experience, and I’m sure the other humans might come down with…”
It was endearing how he continued to ramble in search of some ailment that humans might require that wasn’t extreme enough for a doctor—or healer, as she’d heard them called here. For as intelligent as Kizros seemed, there was a nervous quality to his speech that softened the way he’d explained everything in the shop. He spoke to her plainly, safely, as if he was truly excited to have someone to share details with and hoped she’denjoy the work.
“I have some experience,” Aofe said when his rambling became a series of non-word sounds. “Not exactlyformal,” she added, “but I can come up with a list and see if you have the appropriate ingredients?”
Kizros’s features brightened as he blurted, “Yes!” He cleared his throat, tempering his excitement as he leaned casually on the front desk.Triedto look casual. “I mean, yes, and I can always direct to the appropriate substitute. There’s a workroom behind the desk with all my books, and you are welcome to study them—mostof them. There are human ones, too, and all the proper recipes and steps for certain potions. I can teach you some runes for preservation or bonding reactive agents, too.”
Aofe was already feeding off his excitement—mind whirring as she considered first what might be most helpful for the humans stuck here—that she dismissed the possibility she could perform magic. She herself had a long list of medicines she’d only just now realized she’d have to recreate, but she could ask the other girls about their history. Find out what they might need.
“A contraceptive.”
It wasn’t until there was a clattering that Aofe realized she’d spoken aloud. Kizros’s arm had slipped out from where it was supporting him, sending papers, empty vials, and trinkets scattering to the floor. His long tail whipped behind him in a frenzy.
“A con—” His voice squeaked, then his hand snagged his tail, and he held it firmly against his side. “A contraceptive?”
Her cheeks burned, and if Kizros’s darkening cheeks were indication, she’d guess he was also blushing. “Monthly bleeds,” she blurted. Though she was unashamed of natural bodily functions, explaining to a demon the details of human women’s reproductive systems was not how she thought she’d be spending her evening. “They can be pretty painful, and something like a preventative can reduce the symptoms or length, and I know the ingredients for one that prevents them entirely. Do, uh, female demons not?—”
“I’m familiar,” Kizros said, readjusting his glasses. “Not monthly, but we are familiar. If you make a list, I can have the ingredients ready for you in an hour?”
Aofe blinked, but not about the speed at which he’d be able to gather ingredients that took her almost a week to collect in the human world. “You’re not tired?”
“No.”
“Oh,” she muttered, glancing out the shop window where there were still a surprisingly high number of demons walking around. “I just thought, it’s the middle of the night?—”
“It’s mid-afternoon.”
She whipped her head back to Kizros who was frowning. “The moon is out.”
That seemed to confuse him further. “Yes?”
“So it’s light out through the night?”
“It’s light out right now.”
Aofe gaped at him. “This isyour daytime?”
She peered back at the window, noting the cooler blue tint to the moon. No yellow reflections from a sun.
Kizros joined her on the other side of the counter, following her gaze. “I did not consider how much you’ve gone through today and how much of an adjustment this is. You should rest. We can talk more tomorrow.”
Aofe didn’t mean to sound ungrateful, but an exhausted weight began to settle on her shoulders at everything she’d need to learn about this place… and what she was meant to do about the lack-of-sun situation.
