The obnoxious song of a thousand cicadas looking for love filtered through Sulika’s open window. She awoke gradually, over twenty minutes. She hadn’t slept so well in weeks and was seriously debating pulling the blanket over head and grabbing another hour of sleep while she still could- “Hey Foxy, you awake yet?” She heard Snowball say from the other room.

A few seconds later, Snowball swooped through her open bedroom door and perched on the foot of her bed. He stared impatiently at his owner; it was almost ten in the morning, and she hadn’t fed him yet. The absolute nerve of this woman… Or so Sulika imagined him saying.

“Sulika?” Faeyra asked again. She sounded slightly winded, almost like she’d been running or something.

“Yeah, I’m awake. What’s up?” Sulika said while stretching her back and shoulders. Her right shoulder was aching a bit. Had she slept on it wrong or was it an aftereffect of the battle yesterday?

“About time. Listen, I’m swamped down here - something big happened inside one of the dungeons, and everyone decided they needed to restock their potion supplies immediately.”

“Oh, really? Okay, I can help for a little while. But I need to head into work in-” She glanced at the clock again. “An hour. Think the rush will be over by then?” Sulika climbed out of bed, grabbed the first pair of clean pants she could find, and slipped them on.

“What? No, I don’t need your help down here. I was going to ask you to run out and get some milk. We’re out.”

Sulika, who was in the middle of putting on her right shoe, lost her balance at the request and hit the floor with a grunt.

“What happened?” Faeyra asked, her voice a mixture of concern and amusement.

“Nothing happened.” Sulika grunted as she finished pulling on her shoes. “Can you repeat what you said earlier? I must’ve misheard you or something.”

“We’re out of milk. Can you go get some?” Faeyra repeated herself.

Sulika blinked out of surprise and stared at Snowball’s confused face. They were out of milk? They’d just gone to the market two days ago, and they always bought two to three gallons of the stuff because Sulika liked to pour a bit into her coffee each morning and Faeyra was absolutely in love with baking. She used almost a gallon by herself… But that still took a week, so how could they possibly be out of milk?

“What did you do?” Sulika asked, not bothering to mask the irritated tone of her voice.

“Why do you assume I did something?”

“Answer the damn question.”

“Alright, fine. I found an absolutely remarkable helper this morning, and he’s been working his ass off to help me-”

“What does that have to do with us being out of milk?” Sulika asked impatiently. She was standing in her bedroom doorway in a baggy t-shirt, mismatched socks, and she was pretty sure her sweatpants were on backwards. So, while she was happy her friend had found someone to help her in the store, she would prefer it if Faeyra got to the point.

“I was getting to that part! He wouldn’t accept any money for helping me.”

“You didn’t offer to sleep with him, did you?” Sulika blurted.

“Who do you think I am? … Of course, I offered. He turned that down too. Can you stop interrupting me so I can finish the story? I stepped away to talk to you and left him out there alone.”

Sulika thought about it and eventually nodded her acceptance.

“I’m assuming you just nodded your head despite knowing I can’t actually see you?” Faeyra’s laugh sounded strange coming through Snowball’s beak. But Sulika barely noticed. She was too busy being embarrassed after being called out like that.

“Didn’t you have a story to finish?” Sulika said, clearly unhappy with the situation.

“I paid him in hot chocolate.”

“… You did what?” Sulika asked incredulously. Faeyra did not just say what she thought she did… Did she?

“I paid him in hot chocolate. He said he’d never had chocolate before, so I went a bit overboard. I made him a plain mug to start out with, and he absolutely loved it. So, I started feeding him some of my other recipes. Sulika, when I tell you, I’ve never seen someone down a mug of steaming milk so fast.” Faeyra said. Even through the filter, that was Snowball, Sulika could hear the fondness in her friend’s voice as she regaled her with tales of how this mystery man somehow drank two gallons of hot cocoa in a few hours.

What a weird way to start the day.

“So… Will you go pick up some more milk?”

“Yeah,” Sulika sighed. “I guess I can do that.”

“Awesome!” Faeyra shouted before closing the connection. Sulika stared at Snowball for a few more seconds before shaking her head and walking into her living room. Snowball followed her, landing in his cage with an irritated squawk directed at his owner, to remind her he still hadn’t been fed yet.

Sulika sent one last glance full of longing at her bed before moving to feed her favorite bird and get on with her day. She really should have just gone back to sleep when she had the chance, but it was too late for that now.

A few minutes later, Sulika reached the bottom of the stairs and pushed open the door to the shop. Faeyra hadn’t told her a lie. The store was packed with customers: a line of people stretched out the front door just to grab a few bottles of health potions, and many more were scurrying around like a pack of squirrels who’d waited till the last minute to prepare for the winter.

“Sulika!” Faeyra called the moment she spotted her. Faeyra was standing at the register with a large man standing directly in front of her and a line of other customers waiting behind him. Sulika was curious about how Faeyra made them so docile. They were never this patient. On a normal day, the store would be so chaotic Sulika couldn’t hear herself think. But today, despite so many people standing inside the store, it remained fairly quiet.

Sulika approached Faeyra with a cautious smile on her face and waited until she was done ringing up the large man’s total before she leaned in to ask – “What’s the deal?”

“Hi, thank you for your patience today. Would you like a bag?” Faeyra asked the customer. “That guy,” Faeyra whispered while motioning towards the large man who’d just left the register. “Was running his mouth a few minutes ago and the new guy convinced him to stop.”

“What’d he do? Hit him?” Sulika asked while wondering if it was okay to let someone so violent continue working here.

“Nope. Didn’t lay a finger on him. But when you look like that,” Faeyra said while tipping her chin towards the front of the store. “You don’t have to do much to make people listen to you.”

Sulika assumed the new guy was standing somewhere in that direction. She’d been wondering about the appearance of this chocolate maniac since earlier, so she took the opportunity to look for her friend’s new helper- Her eyes bulged at the sight of Aldritch quietly restocking a crate near the front door.

The giant wasn’t paying the surrounding customers any attention, but they couldn’t tear their eyes away from him. It was like watching a group of deer stare at a sleeping lion; they knew it could kill them, but their own sense of morbid curiosity kept them from running away.

As if he’d sensed her eyes on him, Aldritch glanced in her direction. His golden eyes passed over her face, seemingly without recognizing her, and landed on Faeyra. His eyes lingered on her for a moment before passing back over Sulika. There, that was when the flash of recognition hit his eyes. A small smile appeared on his face, and he nodded in greeting before going back to work like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Had he followed her here?

Was he stalking her?

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” Sulika whispered to Faeyra.

“What’s up?”

“In private.” Sulika said. The look on her face spoke volumes, and Faeyra knew it was important. She apologized to the customer standing at the register and stepped into the workshop with Sulika.

“Tell me everything that’s happened between the two of you.” Sulika blurted the instant the door closed.

“You mean with Aldritch?” Faeyra asked.

“Yes.”

“Nothing much. We talked a lot before the customers started flooding in but haven’t really spoken since. Well, aside from asking him to grab something from the workshop. Why? Do you know him?”

“Kinda.” Sulika replied. She briefly recounted the events of yesterday, ending with how she’d left Aldritch at the guild last night.

“So, he’s a returnee… Interesting.” Faeyra mumbled. “If you’re worried about him stalking you, I think it’s very unlikely.”

“Why? Did he say anything?” Sulika asked. She’d thought she was fairly nice to him yesterday. If he’d insulted her behind her back, she’d-

“About you? Nope. This is the first time I’m even hearing about him being a returnee, so I’d definitely remember if he mentioned you or your little minions at the guild.”

“What? You’re kidding, right?” Sulika asked incredulously. “What did you two talk about for those first few hours, if not the events of yesterday? I was almost positive he’d be bombarding you with questions about the island, the town, our currency, the usual shit returnees ask.”

“Well,” Faeyra held up a hand and started counting the events on her fingers. “We talked about how hot I am- my favorite topic, alchemy, the store, chocolate- which I’m pretty sure was his favorite topic, and where I learned to brew potions.”

Sulika’s mind had wandered while she listened. She wondered if there was some angle he was trying to work, but the last topic on Faeyra’s list brought her up short. “Did you tell him?” Sulika asked, knowing fully well how sensitive that subject was to Faeyra.

“I did.” Faeyra replied. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it hit Sulika’s ears like she’d shouted.

“Why?” Sulika asked. All thoughts of him having ulterior motives were taken out back and shot. This was far more important than anything Sulika had been thinking.

“I don’t actually know. It was just a… feeling, I guess.”

Sulika leaned in close, to the point her lips were almost touching Faeyra’s left ear and whispered. “Did you have another vision?”

Faeyra’s eyes lost their light, and she stared at a spot over Sulika’s shoulder. Sulika waited patiently for her friend to say whatever was on her mind. She knew from experience that the only way to get a response from Faeyra when she got like this was just to wait it out. Forcing her to respond would have the opposite effect and cause her to shut down more.

After a few seconds, Faeyra shrugged and came back to her normal state of mind. “It was more like a feeling of relief. Like someone had lifted a weight off my shoulders. I didn't know what it meant, which is why I offered to let him help around the shop. Figured if he stayed close, I could try to make sense of that feeling,” Faeyra muttered, losing focus for a second.

“Hey,” Sulika asked. She gently grabbed Faeyra’s face and pulled her attention back to the present. “I will not ask if he’s dangerous. I know he is. But do you know if he means us harm?” Sulika was thinking back to the first time she laid eyes on him. The bloodlust she’d felt in that moment was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. And the look on the demon’s face as he begged to be allowed to leave…

“No, I don’t think so,” Faeyra said a moment later. She wasn't quite back to her senses just yet but was close enough to speak. “But Sulika, it doesn’t take an oracle to see the darkness inside him. So do me a favor, huh?” Faeyra said, grabbing Sulika’s face and making her look directly into her eyes. The two women stood close enough for their breaths to intermingle.

“If you glimpse the darkness he hides within his soul, get the fuck out of the way.”

The two women stood in absolute silence. Neither was sure what to say, or if they should allow him to stay so close to them. He was like a fire, and they; the pitiful moths that were attracted to the flame- The door opened at that moment and Aldritch froze in the doorway. He glanced back and forth between the two of them, taking in the way they were holding each other, the unfocused expression on Faeyra’s face, and the nervous flush of Sulika’s face and neck. He made a guess about what was happening and gently, but quickly, shut the door without a word. “Sorry, didn't see any more of that potion in the back. Can I help you find anything else?” They heard him tell a customer.

Sulika was confused about his reaction. Had he heard them discussing him? But that didn’t seem quite right. He didn’t look angry when he shut the door; he looked amused.

Sulika glanced down at herself and noticed how close Faeyra was standing. Their chests were almost touching, and the way she was holding Faeyra’s face was almost like- Sulika’s face shifted into a completely different color spectrum and turned tomato red.

She immediately let go of Faeyra and stepped back. Her heart pounded to the beat of some unheard rock song, and she was genuinely worried Faeyra could hear it. For her part, Faeyra didn’t look the slightest bit embarrassed by what just happened. Instead, she leaned in close to Sulika and planted a quick kiss on the side of her mouth. “Thanks for worrying about me… Now go get that milk. You’ve gotta get to work.” Faeyra said before following Aldritch back into the store. "

Sulika dropped into a crouch the moment the door shut behind Faeyra and hid her face in her hands. She’d go get the milk in a minute. She just needed to wait for her heart to finish its drum solo first.