Once they are alone in the garden, Cadeyrn wastes no time. Spinning around to face him as soon as the back door clicks shut behind them.
“Are you going?”
Asterius doesn’t need to ask what he means, but he still plays ignorant anyway, perhaps stupidly hoping that Cadeyrn would drop the matter. He hums softly, keeping his gaze locked on the cobblestones under his feet, “Going where?”
Cadeyrn huffs, and while it would be painfully easy to call out Asterius’s feigned ignorance the demon still explains, “Vae’s Creation banquet.”
Apparently, the Muse of Tragedy used to invite him every year, not that the OG Asterius ever actually showed up. Still, the original did always send her a nice present, an innocent enough action that could be reasonably written off as keeping up polite appearances.
“I wasn’t invited,” he responds coolly. It wasn’t technically a lie, he hadn’t been invited yet, and though Vae used to extend an invitation every year, she had stopped after- after Sanctus.
He can feel Cadeyrn’s eyes staring him down, and he shuffles a little more towards the left, leaning down to pick up the watering can, needing to do something to distract his spiraling thoughts. He starts watering the nearest flower, trying and failing to not pay attention to the demon 10 feet away who sighs and begins trimming back a few overzealous plants.
They work in silence for a few minutes before Cadeyrn’s voice fills the air once more with his soft timber, “Will you be attending?”
Asterius gives his own sigh, seems he isn’t going to be able to escape this conversation. All in all, he’s thankful that Cadeyrn doesn’t point out the obvious factor that Asterius now has Vae’s string of fate tethered to him, and that it would be silly to think he wouldn’t be invited now.
He keeps his gaze locked into the strange flower before him, slowly lowering the watering can shaped like some sort of fantasy elephant, (he had asked Cadeyrn once what the hell it was supposed to be. The demon had just shrugged and said it was a gift from Vae a few years back. Which while explaining how it got here, did little to explain what it was supposed to originally depict.)
“I’ll go,” he confesses. No point in hiding what they both already know, Cadeyrn is probably only asking out of some misplaced nicety, they all knew he was going to the party. And his personal feelings on the matter aside (he really did want to go, even if she didn’t remember him, Vae was still his friend-), Asterius had to go.
Conveniently only 3 days after the Female Lead’s own birthday, Vae’s Creation Day Banquet was the event that solidified their friendship. A beautiful small gathering hosted on the 7th ring of Celestia, and Asterius’s 4th mission.
The event that first debuted Asterius as the “villain”. He didn’t really remember what the original Asterius had done, and the System hasn’t told him exactly what he had to do yet, but it was easy to guess what his goal would be, ruin the party. Which made his heart clench and lurch, twisting his stomach in knots of guilt and he hadn’t even actually done anything yet. He didn’t want to ruin Vae’s special day, but it was either he sabotaged a party or died. And Asterius was a selfish man.
“Would Master like me to attend with him?”
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Again, Asterius didn’t really think he had a say in that, Cadeyrn was always next to Asterius in the original novel, which meant he would have to drag him into this mess alongside him. Which he definitely did not want to do, especially considering the demon’s “Creation Day problem.”
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It was almost 20 years ago now, an innocent question asked on a day similar to this, with the two remaining suns shining bright in the sky. The ridiculous watering can in Asterius’ hands, Cadeyrn working further in the garden replanting some sort of orchid-like flower that hummed a faint tune. A gentle breeze barely taking the edge off an impossibly hot and lazy spring day.
“Cadeyrn when is your creation day?”
He hears the demon pause, the rhythmic sound of shoveling dirt stopping for a long beat. Asterius halts his own watering, turning around to look back at the demon. There is a tense contemplative look darkening his face, “I don’t have one master.”
He doesn’t need the System hovering in his face to tell him that continuing this conversation is a bad idea, Cadeyrn flat tone is a clear indicator of that. Luckily or unfortunately, Asterius has never considered himself to be that bright of a man, “Everyone has a Creation Day-,”
“I was only a few mortal years old when I was taken to heavens,” the demon reminds, voice steely and cold as if Cadeyrn were speaking the answers about someone else’s life, “I do not remember the land of my birth, my own parents’ faces escape me. Why would I remember something so pointless as that?”
Oh, this was a lot worse than a touchy subject, it was a landmine of tension. He scrambles to backpedal as fast as he can. Mouth moving once more before his brain can fully process the thoughts, “Would you like one?”
‘Wow,’ he thinks to himself, feeling the embarrassed flush rise to his cheeks as he almost violently rips his gaze away to stare at a lone cloud instead of Cadeyrn, ‘Really smooth Asterius, real smooth.’
Cadeyrn raises an eyebrow, turning to fully look at him, but Asterius keeps his gaze away, focusing on the blue twisting flower before him.
“What is master implying?”
“Well…,” he’s already dug himself into this hole, and the System is only a little red, so he’s probably good, “we could pick a day to be your creation day?” he hesitantly offers. He can feel more than see the frown he gets for that, so he’s quick to ramble on, “Any day you want! Like a nice spring day, or maybe in the fall, a perfect day just for you!” and Asterius knows he’s pushing it now, the System glowing red in his face, but he’s far too deep to stop now, “uhm-, even today if you wanted!”
Cadeyrn chuckles, laughing so hard he falls onto the ground, arms spread wide as he laughs up at the sky. It’s the first time Asterius has even seen him laugh, it takes his breath away. The raw unfiltered joy. Asterius can feel his heart impossibly fall even deeper in love. God this demon will be the death of him and he's starting to be okay with that.
“I like the sound of that master,” he agrees, smile wide and lazy, like a well feed cat. He turns so that they can lock eyes and Asterius is not strong enough to look away, “I’ll let you know when I pick the perfect date.”
Knowing his tongue would only betray his true feelings, he nods. Heart beating loudly in his ears, eyes squinting from the bright sunlight but locked tightly to Cadeyrn’s pleased smile.
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Despite Cadeyrn’s easy acceptance of Asterius’s offer, he had never actually given him a date. Asterius had brought it up a few times, tentatively inquiring if he had settled on a time to celebrate. Cadeyrn’s answer was always the same, “not yet, but soon.” A promise never fulfilled. (Asterius tried not to dwell too hard on why Cadeyrn never answered).
It felt cruel to keep bringing the demon to events that he himself couldn’t celebrate, but the System truly gave him no choice in the matter.
[System is just doing System’s job!]
Ignoring the message, he adverts his gaze back to Cadeyrn, startlingly slightly at finding the demon already looking at him. There’s an expectant gleam to his silted red eyes, and distantly Asterius realizes he never actually answered the question, too lost in memories.
“If you want-,” the System flashes red and he sighs, changing his sentence, “I will not stop you from joining me.”
Cadeyrn lips tug ever so slightly up into a smile, “It would be my honor master,” he says in a tone that manages to be both sincere and teasing, “With you, it shall be a Creation Day to never forget.”