The Jump Gate network was down, and technicians had stated that they weren't sure when they'd manage to get it fixed again. The process through which a demon is transported between planes of existence was half-understood at best, and after the Brimstone Gate was destroyed right as it was preparing a cross-planar jump, a feedback pulse of magic was sent through the entire transportation network, shorting out equipment in various Jump Gates all across the continent of Aporue. What few city-states that remain unfazed by the sudden catastrophe had cut trip frequency and placed embargoes on travelling as a precaution, and investigations were underway to investigate exactly what the Hell caused a mysterious Imp to suddenly sabotage the Brimstone terminal in the first place. A lot of demons were stranded on Earth and in Hell, and judging by the statements given by officials in the papers, the Gate wouldn't be up and running any time soon.
Cobalt was feeling, for want of a better word, awful.
Quinn looked a little peaky as well when news first broke, though he wondered whether that was because of the Jump Gate situation or Gamma's ambush later on that same day. Either way, she had been unusually quiet for the past few days. The snow had only worsened, to the point where everyone had gotten sick of it, and with the school's heating system acting as temperamental as it was, Cobalt was left staring at a lot of miserable demons bundled up in thick coats and woolly scarves.
"So, can anyone tell me what happens when these two mix?" he asked aloud, pointing to the chemical structure diagrams he had scrawled upon the blackboard.
Only one hand arose; Karazelle, the sole Succubus in 3-F. Cobalt sighed and called upon her, whereupon she began to deliver her answer in detail, but he wasn't listening. He just watched her as she talked, feeling the uneasy sensation in his stomach grow worse.
First Izzbelle, then Quinn... He couldn't shake the feeling that the Succubus was involved. He just didn't know how to broach the subject.
"Very good, Miss Terna," Cobalt said once she stopped talking, turning on his heel to wipe the board clean.
As he set about writing down the precise details of the chemical reaction, the school bell abruptly went off, causing the Incubus to slump his shoulders and reach for the chalkboard eraser. Rather than the usual stampede to get to the canteen, however, he was met with complete silence. He raised an eyebrow and turned to see his entire class sitting in their seats, gazing up at their teacher expectantly, waiting to be excused.
"You... can go," he said after a moment, unsure of how to feel.
As soon as he said that, his students fell into their usual habits, scrambling for their belongings in an effort to be the first out the classroom door. Cobalt just stood and watched with a bemused expression upon his face, his arms folded and his tail coiled.
He had a suspicion that Quinn had blabbed about what had happened in the park. There was no other explanation for why they were all treating him like this. Why was it his students only seemed to respect him whenever he came to blows with Devils? It just didn't make sense to him.
Noticing that he wasn't alone, the Incubus looked over to see Jelli still sitting at her desk, her tail nervously beating behind her as she patiently looked up at her teacher. As soon as he made eye contact with her, the Incubus' heart began to beat faster, spurred on by the memories of what happened down in the Tempered Bastion.
"You should go get your lunch, Miss Pharmine," he told her, turning away to pack his things before she realised how red his face had gotten.
"Ja, o- of course, um... Mr. Trayer? Could we... talk?"
He froze up completely. Swallowing hard, Cobalt looked back at the Glutton, feeling the guilt in his stomach grow more painful by the second.
"I..." he began, unsure of what to say.
"What I said, down in the ruins... do you have a, um...?"
This wasn't going away, was it? No, he was a fool to think this was something he could just ignore.
"Jelli, you realise that right now isn't the best of times for this, right?" the Incubus said, slinging his satchel over his shoulder.
"I- I know, I know, I just... s- sorry. I was just thinking that maybe after I graduate? W- We could be... I- I don't mean to sound vermess-"
She bit her tongue with a little yelp.
"- I mean I don't mean to get ahead of myself. I- I just... Sorry, I didn't mean to make things weird," the Glutton mumbled into her shoes.
Seeing her like this, exposing herself to him... it only made Cobalt feel worse. He took a deep breath and walked over to Jelli, placing a hand on her shoulder in an effort to make her feel a little more reassured. Of course he could wait until his class graduated to face the music, but he couldn't forget that Izzbelle was expecting something from him too. Something Cobalt wasn't sure he had it in him to give.
"Look, there's a lot going on right now. But I promise that you and I will talk when an opportunity presents itself. Right now, however, I need you to knuckle down and focus on your studies, okay? Everything else can wait," he told the Glutton in a gentle tone.
More delaying. The coward's way out. But it was all he could do when he had so much on top of him.
Jelli slowly nodded, looking a little disappointed but nonetheless reassured.
"O- Okay. I just, um..."
She looked deep into his eyes, her jaw hanging open a little. Her cheeks lit up in rosy hues as her pupils dilated. There really was no mistaking it; even someone as willfully ignorant of romantic matters as Cobalt could see that the girl was head over heels.
"Ah! Lunch! See you next period, Mr. Trayer!" she cried, suddenly remembering the time.
Bowing her head in such a way that almost struck the Incubus, Jelli scooped up her things and rushed out the door, her stumpy tail working overtime in order to keep her from tripping over herself. Her teacher just stood there, feeling hollow on the inside.
He was playing her; he couldn't exactly deny that. Lilith would be driving the point home right now, had she deigned to speak with him at any point since the encounter with Gamma.
But she wasn't on speaking terms with him, and he didn't mind that one bit.
"Lunch time... Best try to eat something," Cobalt sighed, wiping his forehead as he stepped out of the classroom.
He didn't have much of an appetite, especially not since what happened with the Devil's finger. Still, he'd force something into him, one way or another.
-----
Cobalt stood outside the door to the teacher's lounge, silently staring into the room as students passed him by in the hallway. There, amidst the rest of his colleagues, was Elya. She was sitting in a chair by the window, silently staring into the middle distance as her rice cooled in front of her. Every now and then, Madam Pudon would walk over to her and ask her something with a worried look on her face, but the Fallen would just listlessly nod her head, her eyes as dull and glassy as the ice collecting in the windows.
Something was deeply wrong with her, even more so than usual. Elya was always volatile, he wasn't about to deny that. Especially as of recently, she seemed to constantly switch from meek and confused to erratic and violent, but now... it was like there was nothing going on behind her eyes. Like she had completely receded into herself.
Cobalt wanted to step in and help her. But he knew he couldn't. He didn't know what to do. And even if he just sat with the Fallen in order to make her feel a little more comfortable, he knew that at some point Mistress Viola would enter the staff room, and after how he spoke to her the last time he saw her...
The Incubus shook his head and walked away, towards the canteen.
Perhaps he could find something there. Last time he checked it wasn't against any rules to serve student lunches to staff members.
The canteen was as chaotic as ever, and with the terrible weather keeping everyone indoors, it was absolutely packed to the rafters. Every single seat on both floors seemed to be occupied, with many students eating their lunches on the floors. Cobalt almost tripped over his legs as he entered the room, accidentally announcing his arrival to the entire student body. The clamorous hubbub of the canteen quietened as all eyes turned to the Incubus, replaced by countless hushed whispers as he picked his way over to the lunch line. Grabbing a tray, the Incubus meekly waited in line, doing his best to ignore all the stares he was receiving. By the time he reached the front, even the lunch ladies were giving him strange looks.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
"You, uh... you're not a student," the plump Golem on duty told him.
"I know," the Incubus replied with a sigh.
"... Right. You want stew or soup?"
"Stew please."
"Bread?"
"No thank you."
Noticing the look in his eyes, she gave him a nod.
"... I'll give you a little extra then."
Ladling a hearty portion of stew into a bowl, she placed it upon Cobalt's tray and gave him a nervous smile. Thanking her, the Incubus turned around a looked for a relatively-secluded spot to eat. With the ground floor completely filled, he climbed the stairs to try his luck with the gallery, doing his best not to spill piping-hot stew all over the demons eating their lunches on the steps. Upstairs was similarly crowded, but upon surveying the tables for an open spot, he was alerted to a Succubus frantically waving for his attention.
Karazelle. The rest of the girls were sitting around her too.
Seeing nowhere else to go, Cobalt sighed and headed over to their table, frowning as the awed stares intensified.
"Hey sugar, perfect timing! We were just talking about Butterskin's surprise party!" she cried excitedly, sitting back down.
She kicked out an empty chair.
"Here, you can take her seat for now!"
Quietly thanking her, Cobalt looked around for the Nymph in question.
"Where is Whitney, actually?" he asked.
"Oh, she's out looking for her phone. She thinks she might have left it in the bathroom," Karazelle answered, dipping a hunk of bread into her stew.
She grinned and reached into her blazer, pulling out a smartphone in a glittery black case, laden with keychains.
"Should buy us some time to set plans in motion," the Succubus added with a wink.
"Yeah so let's hurry the fuck up already," Izzbelle grunted, stabbing at her food with a fork.
"Calm your tits, tiger; we're getting there."
Izzbelle slammed her fist down on the table, but Jelli quickly grabbed hold of her arm in order to calm her down. Despite being late to lunch, the Glutton was already halfway through her third bowl of stew.
"We were talking about food, right?" Quinn said from across the table, leaning over to mop up some spillage from Lottie's milk carton.
"Yeah. Butterskin's a Nymph, so we can't have meat," Karazelle confirmed with a nod.
"You mean she can't have meat. That doesn't mean we have to eat rabbit food too."
Picking the chunks of beef out of his stew, Cobalt cleared his throat.
"Well it is Whitney's birthday. I feel like it's fair to have the menu catered especially to her tastes," he said.
Jelli nodded in agreement.
"Mm! I- I've been practicing my vegetarian recipes!" she piped.
"I thought Jel was on cake duty?" Quinn asked with a raised eyebrow.
The Glutton's eyes widened.
"O- Oh, I almost forgot!"
Folding her arms, Karazelle turned her gaze onto her Oni companion, who glared back in typical fashion.
"Izzbelle~?" she asked with a coy smile.
"What?"
"You're Italian, right?"
The demon of Wrath raised an eyebrow.
"The fuck does that mean?"
"Am I right or am I wrong?"
Izzbelle looked away sheepishly.
"I mean, my mom is. I can't speak it, though. Never got the hang of all the fuckin'... hey what does it matter anyway?!"
Cobalt glanced back over to Karazelle, who just shrugged.
"I was just wondering if had any suggestions for snacks. Like canapes, I guess."
"Listen, my mom's a killer cook, but I didn't inherit shit from her. Besides, we mostly ate traditional Oni stuff back home. Bears, boars and barbeque," Izzbelle snorted, stabbing her food for effect.
Biting into her bread, Jelli frantically chewed in an effort to speak before someone else chimed in.
"What about fish? Can Nymphs eat fish?"
Cobalt shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. Any product derived from animal flesh seems to provoke negative reactions in Nymphs," he told her, quoting from his Science classes.
He frowned, drawing an odd parallel between Nymph digestion issues and his own dietary requirements. He silently wondered whether he'd be able to eat anything at this party.
"A- Ah, so that rules out pescetarian dishes..."
Suddenly, Lottie slammed her fork down onto the table, startling everyone and nearly sending her soup bowl flying.
"I'm a pesky terrain!" the Golem cried excitedly, jogging up and down in her seat.
Jelli cleared her throat, thrown a little off-balance by her sudden outburst.
"W- Well, what about eggs and dairy?"
"They should be okay," Cobalt told her.
The Glutton smiled.
"I can work with that. Izzbelle, i- if it's not too much trouble, could I write up a shopping list for you? N- Nothing too complicated, just-"
The Oni cut her off by gently tousling Jelli's hair.
"Whatever you need, I'll get. Don't worry about it."
"Don't you mean 'forget about it?'" Karazelle said, doing her best not to grin.
"I'm gonna fuckin' stab you in a minute if you keep that shit up."
As the girls devolved into their usual banter, Cobalt turned his attention onto his food. As per usual, the meat was just about the only thing he could stomach, but something about the flavour was just... unfulfilling. He could still taste the flesh of Gamma's finger... the delicate snap of her bones... the crunch of her cartilage...
"What about music?" Quinn asked suddenly, snapping him out of it before his thoughts got too dour.
Karazelle hissed through her teeth.
"That's the thing. Butterskin has some... interesting tastes."
"Like what?"
"Lemme show you."
She quickly typed a password into Whitney's phone - Cobalt wasn't about to ask how she knew it - and began to swipe through the Nymph's apps.
"Her favourite band is something called Ripsaw Rodeo. Some kind of human death metal-country fusion," the Succubus informed them, reading off the phone.
Izzbelle raised an eyebrow.
"What's the deal? Doesn't sound too bad."
"Yeah, you would think that wouldn't you? Your taste in music isn't much better."
"Alright, that's fuckin' it-!"
Before things could get violent, Cobalt quickly raised his hands, gesturing for Izzbelle to settle down.
"Hey, calm down. Once again, this is Whitney's day. I think we can all put up with whatever she wants to listen to. Besides, maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised with how it sounds," he said.
Quinn just shrugged.
"Can't be any worse than listening to her try to play guitar."
"Hey now, that's not nice."
"What? I'm not wrong."
Karazelle cleared her throat.
"Venue?" she asked.
This time, Cobalt was the one to offer a solution. This conversation was certainly helping to keep his mind off things; he could always count on them for that.
"What about Bloody Hell? I imagine Dassie could do with the business," he suggested.
The others frowned.
"Don't think Mistress Viola wants us leavin' campus... then again, since when did we ever do what that bitch tells us?" Izzbelle murmured to herself.
Her eyes widened.
"Uh... no offence to your mom," she quickly added, turning to Karazelle.
The Succubus just smiled.
"Eh, none taken. Bloody Hell it is. If we're lucky, Dassie'll give us discounts!"
"What makes you think that?" Quinn asked curiously.
"Well you've seen how she looks at Cobalt here. My guess is she likes them skinny, scrawny and smotherable."
The Incubus nearly choked on a chunk of beef.
"K- Karazelle!" he spluttered, grabbing a napkin kindly offered to him by Lottie.
"What? She's always giving you free drinks whenever I'm there with you!"
"That's because she's an old friend of-"
He cleared his throat, partly because of the meat stuck halfway down his gullet, and partly because he wasn't sure how to word what he was trying to say.
"- she's an old friend of the family," Cobalt said, drinking deep from his water flask.
Karazelle grinned.
"Alright, alright. Still, can't blame her; the woman's got a good eye."
"I'd hope so. She only has the one," Quinn quipped with a grin.
Everyone groaned, save for Lottie, who giggled hysterically at her girlfriend's joke. With a shake of her head, Karazelle opened up her own phone and began to type something into it.
"Alright, enough joking around. Food, check. Music, check. Venue, check. Drinks will be sorted there too. Anything else?"
"Presents?" Jelli asked.
"Shit, presents, almost forgot. Ideas, lets hear them!"
The table went silent.
"... Fuck," was all Izzbelle managed to say after a few moments.
"I- I don't mean to sound, well... mean, but... what does Whitney like?" Jelli asked, peering around the table for answers.
"She's still going through her whole 'self-discovery' phase, right? Does she even know what she likes?" Quinn added.
Frowning, Karazelle flicked her tail as she rubbed her chin.
"... Hm. I know she likes music, so maybe something for her guitar; like some decent picks or some decals. She's also got a pretty funky fashion sense, so I'm sure I could source some outfits she'd appreciate. And then there's the art habit she thinks is such a big secret. Some notebooks and pens oughta do the trick for that," the Succubus said aloud, rapidly typing her in phone.
Quinn chuckled.
"Kara, for all your joking about Whitney having a crush on you, are you sure it isn't the other way around?" she asked with a snide grin.
"Believe me, I'm just waiting for the day when she reciprocates so I can truss her up like a turkey and test the butteryness of her skin for myself," Karazelle responded without missing a beat.
Cobalt loudly cleared his throat before the conversation got any more X-rated, drawing the Succubus' gaze.
"Sugar, if we all pool in for the gifts, would you mind heading downtown and buying them for us? I know you've kinda got the paparazzi on your ass, but we'll all have our hands full with the other stuff," she asked.
Sighing, Cobalt nodded. He wouldn't mind doing a little shopping to take his mind off things. Besides, it would give him some ideas for his own present for Whitney. That girl deserved a happy birthday, what with all the difficulty she was going through this year.
Looking up, he gave Karazelle the best smile he could muster.
"Of course. Leave it to me."