Now it was because it just was. Whether that was because she was eating her dinner while he was seated on the other side of the table fiddling with something, or he sat near her in garden. She noticed he was slowly getting closer and closer every day until she feared he’d sit right on top of her.
Since her monthly cycle had ended, she was permitted to be outside again. He was always close by, but he no longer felt the need to hover. Whether that was because he truly thought she was safe or because she carried her sword with her, Reia didn’t know.
It gave him the freedom to start carving a proper chair for her, and she’d watched him the day he’d cut down a tree so he could start building her things. He also did it to make sure they had enough firewood for the colder nights.
He trained with her every day with a sword, and his suggestion the previous day that he drag a Demon inside the circle to get her to kill it had been shocking to say the least! It had been a little one, and it had been more afraid of Orpheus than her, but she’d been able to kill it without incident.
It was only once. He’d said it was because he wanted to see if she could do it. He wanted to see how she faired and reacted to an actual Demon running for her. He’d been standing just off to the side within distance to save her from any harm had something gone astray.
He hadn’t needed to, and their faith in her capabilities grew.
“Why is it you wanted these items?” he asked as he placed her on her feet carefully and moved the chair back to its rightful place.
Heat rose in her cheeks, but she stemmed her embarrassment quickly.
“You’re making me a chair for outside, I thought I’d make you something.”
His body tensed, midway pushing the chair, before his head shot to the side to look at her so quickly it made that strange rattling sound.
“You wanted to make me a gift?”
“Sure, like a bracelet or something you could wear on your person.” When he just continued to stare at her frozen, she quickly added, “Or-or hang around the house. It’s up to you what you want to do with it.”
“A... gift. For me.” One of his hands rose to touch a claw to his chest. “Something for me to keep.”
Bright flamingo pink took over his floating orbs, reflecting off the white of his face to wash the colour in it. Reia stepped back with a gasp.
“What-what does that colour mean?”
She couldn’t even begin to guess, but it was definitely new!
Orpheus brought his other hand up to cover an eye.
“I don’t know. I have never seen it before.” He turned his head down like he was thinking, before his gaze fell back to her. “But I feel warm, and I have an overwhelming desire to hold you.”
Damn this strange creature and his sweet words. Reia giggled and rose her arms in the air.
“You can if you like.”
He was with her within the space of a heartbeat. Wrapping both his arms around her while tucking his shoulder under her chin, he lifted her. His long snout pressed over her shoulder and the side of her head as he rubbed it against her.
“It feels warmer,” he said. “It makes me not want to leave.”
Reia couldn’t help frowning as her lips puckered into a pout. “You’re going somewhere?”
He placed her back down, releasing her as he stepped away. “You said you wanted meat, so I will get you meat.”
“You’re going hunting for me?”
The pink faded to its usual blue as he nodded.
“Yes. I will be gone a day or two. Now that I know you can protect yourself, I feel comfortable leaving you here. I knew if I told you to stay inside while I’m gone that you wouldn’t.”
He waved his hand to the window to gesture outside. “The protections in place should keep you safe, but if somehow one of the Demons got inside the salt circle, I know you’ll be able to protect yourself until you got inside.”
“So yesterday had been a test!”
He chuckled, the sound warm and light-hearted.
“Indeed, my brave little human.” Then he sighed, before dark blue seeped into the colour of his eyes. “But while I am gone, you must not do anything reckless, and... and please do not leave, Reia.”
He is trusting me. Orpheus was trusting that she wouldn’t try to run away.
That in itself meant more to her than he could possibly realise. Did Reia want to stay here forever? She didn’t know.
If the possibility of leaving this cute cabin in the woods safely presented itself to her, she wasn’t sure if she’d hesitate to take it. But a small part of her was growing attached to this place, to him, to this life.
Yet, that came with complications. Maybe she could live the rest of her life here, grow old and die, but how would Orpheus feel about that? She knew he wanted her to stay with him for eternity, for her to give him her soul. But she didn’t know if she wanted the same, to be here that long with him. She could only imagine how he’d be if she was gone simply because she’d grown old or died of a sickness after many years.
Eternity was forever, and having to spend it with him stuck in this gloomy forest... some of it had appeal. A lot of it didn’t.
Reia was human. Shouldn’t she be around humans, live with humans, have a husband and child who were human?
The path he was presenting to her wasn’t normal, and she feared to walk along it.
She reached up to cup his snout gently.
“Don’t worry, Orpheus. I’ll be here when you return,” she promised. “Safe and sound and ready for you to give me a bath.”
