God, everything was woozy. How was he supposed to walk like this? Thank god for the girl beside him. “What the hell made you drink that much!?” Lidia asked, struggling to keep his stock frame up as he leaned against her. She smelled nice, like earth and roses. “...You shoulds stopped muh… Iwasn’... I didn’ try drinkn’ a‘fore this…” It was true. He was a good boy in his past life, so he hardly tried drinking, unless he’d gotten one over on his dad and they celebrated.

He leaned over a bit too much when he spoke, almost tripping before Lidia caught him “I thought demons were a bit more tolerant! You were drinking like a madman! You’re telling me this was the first time you… oh, yeah.” He grinned. She remembered he was a demon, didn’t she? “Dun worry, it's hard tuh get my head around, too…” She rolled her eyes. She was carrying him somewhere. Where, he wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t going to complain to the girl who had literally saved his life just a moment ago.

“Yeah… Leyla… Thank yuh for stopping me back there… Back there… I wasn’ thinkn’ back there…” The girl sighed, giving him a tired smile. She’d been through a lot, and he couldn’t help but think he was only adding to her problems. “You really almost messed everything up, too. Maybe you should stop drinking in general. You can’t afford to act like that again.” He nodded along to her words, guilt plaguing his heart.

When he was at the adventurers guild, earlier, he had drunk so much that he had lost all common sense. He still remembered it, and if his demon face could, he’d have gone red with embarrassment. He’d gotten way too drunk, and in the middle of singing with Jack, he’d accidentally tried ripping off the bandages. It was way too hot and stuffy in them, which to his drunken, delirious mind meant nothing else than to take them off.

Lidia had literally tackled him when he’d done that. The group had gone crazy at that, booing the girl for stopping his attempt at removing the bandages. …They were all pretty drunk, now that he thought back on it. He swore he’d seen Lidia drink her fair share, though. Id that was the case, why did she look so sober, then?

His thought process was interrupted when Lidia pushed him through a random door, putting him on a seat while she went up to a girl on the counter. He looked around, the place actually seemed sorta comfy. It was a large, wooden building that was pretty wide, a giant, spiraling staircase leading up to a second floor that looked down on where he sat. There weren’t quite as many people as in the adventuring guild, and everyone was quiet, just enjoying the sweet, calming atmosphere. It was… a bit sobering, actually. He still felt like he’d fall over any second, but he was just sober enough to recall his past actions… and feel terrible over them.

He looked over to Lidia, who was still over on the counter. She was smiling, chatting it up with the girl on the counter while he sat there, alone. It occurred to him that there really wasn’t anyone in this city he knew. Everyone was… a stranger to him. Worse, most of them were only keeping him alive because he was a stranger to them. If they saw his real face… they’d stab him, with a spear… Like Lidia had done when she’d first seen him.

She’d only trusted him on a fluke. He’d only learned her language on a fluke. Their entire relationship was built completely on a fluke… How the hell was he supposed to feel about that? Eventually, she went back to him, her smile going back to the disappointed expression as she looked at his sorry ass. A far cry from the kind smile she had with the girl on the counter.

He couldn’t blame her.

She went to his side and put one of his arms over her, picking him up. “Come on, Elliot. I got you a room for a couple of nights. Sorry, but we’ll need to get you up the stairs, first… Elliot?” He had his head hung low, unable to look the girl in the eyes. He had manipulated her. Used her moment of weakness to get into her mind, make her think he was a good person. “Nothing, Leyla… Leh’s go.” She helped prop him up, but hit him in the side. “You’ve called me that twice, now. My name is Lidia, not Leyla, idiot.”

He gave her a confused look. When had he started calling her by that psycho’s name? If it wasn’t for his terrible Ex-girlfriend he’d still be in his old world, getting by on half a granola bar while he tried his best to mooch off his friends. Jesus… how were his friends handling his death.. His dad…

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Eh, the man was probably over it by now.

“Sorry, Lidia… My tongue is a bit slow right now..” Another lie. He didn’t know why he’d seen his ex in her but he knew it wasn’t just a slip of the tongue. He was scared of being alone, so much to the point he desperately wanted Lidia by his side. Needed her by his side.

“Slowly, now. If you fall I'm letting go of you.” She said, her soft voice mixed with a bit of snark, feeling nice in his ears. It always started out like this. He’d feel lonely, and he’d latch onto those he thought would get rid of that loneliness. He snuck his hand off her shoulders and to her waist, holding onto her a bit tighter. He hoped she hadn’t noticed this small, insignificant show of affection. Judging by the red tint on her face, she had.

It would have been easy. Maybe not today, but it’d be easy to make her obsessed with him, if only for a month, a week… Hell, even a day would be enough for him. She’d be everything to him, and he’d be everything to her, to the point where neither would feel complete without the other when they inevitably split apart. Despite the twisted reasoning behind his emotions, though, he still felt like this girl would make him happy…

She had stopped in the middle of the stairs, looking him in the eyes with a sparkle he’d seen so many times before. He pulled her closer, her eyes reflecting his own as he tried not to rush it. Her eyes had become droopy, showing just how little her brain was actually working in the situation. A look he himself has had with every girl he’d been with. She was happy, she was scared, she was barely thinking…

If he did this, if he reached in and pulled down the bandages… if he kissed her.

Everything would be fine, just for a moment.

But he wouldn’t this time. This was a new world. A world where he couldn’t afford to lose the few connections he still had. He’d be a new person, someone who wouldn’t decide if people were either nothing but entertainment or his entire world on the drop of a dime.

He feigned slipping on the stairs, letting go of the girl’s waist before falling back. It sucked that they had to have that lovely moment when they were two-thirds the way up the stairs... In the fall he caught her flustered face turning to one of fear, and then of disappointment as she watched him tumble down the stairs. His eyes had started to work really well at noticing these types of things, he realized.

Was it a demon thing, being able to see the small changes in emotion on someone’s face? He’d had such trouble with that before he’d been brought into this magical world. He wished he’d been as blind as before. Now that he could see what his actions could do, he had to actually think about how the other person felt. Their pain, their anger… their guilt. The entire time he’d been thinking, his head and body were smashing into every damn step along the way. Eventually, he hit the ground, his body unhurt physically.

It was still painful enough to sober him up a bit more, though. Eventually, the two had gotten up the stairs. He’d played up the drunk act, making sure to be just on the level where if she tried anything it’d be taking advantage of him. He could see the frustration in her eyes, the way she looked at his hands when he reached for the handles near the stairs. The way her breath hitched every time he made a passing glance at her, expecting it to reignite the moment they had just before.

She wanted him to do something, anything, but he wasn’t about to ruin the only friendship he had in this city. Eventually, they made it to where he was supposed to sleep. “Here. Sleep.” Lidia curtly said. She must have been angry, and it made sense. He’d been acting like a complete tool to her despite her help. It was a nice room, and for a moment he’d considered just how much she’d spent on it.

A small part of him also saw the size of the bed and wondered why it seemed like it was made for two, before he squashed the thought under his foot. He walked in, only realizing until he was inside that he’d pulled her along with him. He smiled as he pulled himself away from her and flopped onto the bed. He turned to look at her as he undid the bandages on his face. “...Thank you, Lidia. Before I met you, I really thought I'd be alone forever. With nothing but goblins to keep me company.”

He finally unraveled the tight cloth around his face, releasing his pale face and fine, sharp teeth. It was good to feel the air again. “Who’d have known I’d have met you?” He saw the way her face became a mixture of hopeful and anxious emotions. He knew that feeling all too well. It was quite endearing how the girl still hadn’t given up, despite his drunkenness. Wasn’t being drunk a turn-off? All of a sudden all his weariness finally caught up to him. The nice, drunken feeling in his body as well as the soft pillows only speeded up the process. “...Goodnight.”

He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, ignoring the spiteful glare of the girl in front of him. She was all he had for now, and he was too scared to see that go away.