She sighed, shaking her head. “You probably knocked once.”
“Let’s say thrice, just because it’s fun to say that word,” they purred, flitting in with a grace Rosalind was still getting used to from giant demons with tails and horns. The jewelry stuck through their wavy horns clinked softly as they sat across from her, draping their long limbs over the arms of a chair in a way that could not be comfortable. “Why are you still here?”
Rosalind waved them off, tucking Ember’s file away and moving on to the financial sheets. “Too many things to do.”
She could feel Mozke’s dark eyes follow her. “Where’d you sleep?”
That she couldn’t answer because she wasn’t sure she had slept. “One of the infirmary beds.”
“Humans are such terrible liars. You know I can hear your heartbeat spike.” They hummed, then stood. A blue hand decorated in rings and dark purple nails appeared in front of her. “Come on.”
Rosalind’s arms spread over the desk protectively. “No, wait.”
Mozke rolled their eyes. “You fooled me yesterday with that one. Not again. Time to move in.”
She whimpered, fingers curling over the stacks of paper. “But, but?—”
“Little human, do not make me throw you over my shoulder. It’s not my style, but I will do it.”
Rosalind groaned as Mozke turned, confident that she would follow after their threat. But maybe?—
“You bring work into my apartment, there’s a rune that will turn it to ash upon entry.”
Rosalind’s eyes widened as she scrambled around the desk, giving her files one last look of longing before chasing after the blue demon. “You’re a member of the council. You can’t just… burn work. Those are important documents!”
“Then don’t bring them home. Simple. Work happens at work.”
Mozke turned the corner much more gracefully than Rosalind, though the faster she moved to keep up with the long-legged demon, the more she realized that she’d been neglecting food as well as sleep. And exercise.
“I’ve known you for…” Rosalind paused, partly because she didn’t know how long it had been since she’d met them, and partially because she might never get used to stepping outside into the demon realm.
Her inhale was deep, taking in the smell of petrichor. The rain must have been quick but she admired the way the demonlights reflected off puddles across the cobblestone paths. The center of the square hosted the Aldgate Scar, theremainder of the sorcery that had first summoned the demons to this realm.
The moon had set, leaving a dizzying pattern of stars and constellations packed into the sky and providing illumination at night. A strange phenomenon Rosalind might never adjust to—the concept of a daymoon instead of a sun and a moonless night.
Mozke groaned dramatically. “Gods, Rosalind,two days. And you’ve been in Heck for three. Do not make me lock you in your room just so you’ll finally take a breath of air that doesn’t smell like infirmary or paper.”
“How does it glow?”
They paused, shoulders softening when they noticed her attention on the sky. “What do you mean?”
“The moon. How does it glow?”
Mozke cocked their head. “The sun?”
“You don’t have a sun.”
They shrugged. “Butyoudo. Well, the human realm does. Sort of like…” Their hands formed what looked like a sphere. “This is your realm, and then we are in this small little space.” They wiggled a finger randomly into their invisible diagram, then started squishing and smashing their hands together. “It’s like sorcery fucked up and dragged elements of our world into this one and poisoned it and they all sort of meshed and had a baby?—”
Rosalind grimaced. “Gods, Mozke, that’s gross.”
“Basically, your sundoesreflect off its surface. But the weird magic and shit that keeps our worldssomewhat separated makes it so we don’t see the sun. Just our moon and stars.”
“That was so much easier to say,” Rose said with a chuckle.
Mozke shot her a teasing smirk. “You know, you could leave your office for an hour and actuallyseethe place you now reside. No one is keeping track of your hours.”
Shehadseen Heck… well, some of it. Okay, none of it besides the square as she ran from office to infirmary and back again, but it’s not like she’d had much of an escort. Argeth came when it was perfectly convenient for him to take charge and then left her alone so the humans wouldn’t feel so nervous around him. The only constant had been Mozke.
