He lowered until he was above her on all fours, his claws digging into the earth to create a crunching sound next to her shoulders.
“From possible death! That doesn’t mean you still cannot come to harm! A weak Demon may not be able to hold you, but they can still strike you with their claws.” He came even closer, a growl present as it rumbled from deep within his chest. “And female, if you are bleeding profusely, the Demons will come here to find I have already eaten you! There is only so much I can handle before I lose myself to my own urges of hunger.” He removed one hand from the ground to place it around the back of her head to cradle it in his large palm as he lifted her closer. “And I do not want that.”
She could hear the sincerity in his voice, like he wanted her safety more than anything. It caused her gut to tighten in response.
“Why are all you humans so foolish around me? It’s as if you all want to find your deaths when I am trying my best to avoid it. I said you could venture around my home when I was done.”
Reia averted her gaze, knowing he was right, and she was the one who’d made the mistake.
“Like I said, I’m sorry. It’s just, I saw the garden and that there was sunlight and I thought it was pretty.”
“Pretty?” he asked, his tone a few decimals lighter in anger. The growling stopped as he looked around them. “You... like something about my home?”
“Who wouldn’t like this garden?” She gestured to it, allowing him to cradle her head as not to upset him further. She also didn’t find it particularly... unpleasant. Then she grumbled quietly, “The inside of it isn’t too bad either.”
“You like my home?” His eyes turned from red to yellow as he tilted his head and began to gently lay her back down on the ground.
“Yes,” she answered. It had its wonderful, cosy qualities with its trinkets and woodsy comforts. “But it is still a cage.”
She wouldn’t allow him to forget that she wasn’t truly happy here. No human would be.
At her words, his eyes faded to a deep blue, darker than usual. He backed away from her to slowly rise to his feet. She got up on her own, only realising he’d offered his hand to help her when she was done.
He clenched it into a fist before bringing it to his side.
He looked around them once more. “If you like the garden, then I can teach you how to tend to it as I was taught.”
“Someone showed you how? A human?”
The Duskwalker turned away from her to head back to salt ring he was carving. He was still huffing in anger.
“Yes. Someone from a very long time ago.”
She wondered if he turned away to avoid her stare. She followed him to stay close like she was supposed to.
“Was that person also the one who showed you this house?”
She wondered if humans had once lived in the Veil before the Demons came. They hadn’t always been on Earth.
He knelt down and started shoving the metal spike into the ground to dig.
“No. She asked me to build it for her, and I did.”
“What about all the furniture?” Her voice was lit with excitement and curiosity. “I was surprised to find human items like a bed, chairs, and even a cooking hearth.”
“She told me what she wanted, and I built it or obtained it.”
“Who is she? How long ago was this?” Reia had so many questions about this that they threatened to pour out from her all at once.
“Eons ago.”
Silence followed.
“You didn’t tell me who she was.”
And when he didn’t answer, moving onto another section, she realised he wasn’t intending to. She puffed her cheeks in irritation.
“Fine. What happened to her?”
His reply was curt and sharp as he said, “I didn’t eat her, if that’s what you’re asking.”
She gulped. Okay, obviously a sensitive topic. Does that mean it was someone he cared about? The idea that he cared about anyone didn’t fully seem plausible to her.
She stopped asking about the mystery woman and watched him work quietly, remaining only a few steps behind him. He eventually made his way around until it joined where he started.
When he stood, showing her he was done, he faced the sky.
“Night is falling, and you must remain inside when it is dark.” Reia agreed with that curfew completely. “Would you like to pick some food from the garden to eat before we go inside?”
Orpheus watched the little human he’d brought into his home with much interest as she began to work the cooking hearth. It looked fairly similar to his fireplace where he’d placed stone and rock high and wide in a recess around the timber to protect it.
The hearth was small so that the flames could never reach the wood, and it sat in a small rock-like basin where he’d already placed timber good for burning in it. A small hole acted as a chimney for it, but he’d made sure it wasn’t wide enough for a Demon to crawl through.
The fireplace he’d made had multiple vents with small chimneys for this very reason.
He was seated at the table, working with the fresh dill and red christmas berries, while she was placing a pot of water over the fire.
While it was boiling, she walked over to the kitchen counter and began peeling and cutting the potato, carrots, and other various vegetables she’d obtained so she could make some form of soup.
He’d always found enjoyment in watching the humans he brought here cook. Even though they made similar meals, he didn’t think he’d ever smelt the exact same one made by two of them. He wanted to assist, to learn, since he once knew how to, but had forgotten over the long eons of being alone.
He didn’t try to since he knew they didn’t like it when he was close to them and peering over their shoulders to observe.
“Why are you making more of those?” Reia asked while she cut, peeking at him occasionally as if she wanted to know where he was always. “You just placed the others yesterday, and I thought you said they lasted a few days.”
He turned his sight down to the protection trinkets he was making.
“They were ones I prepared before I left so I could string them as soon as we arrived.” He tied the twine around the first one before he reached into a wooden jar that contained different small animal bones, such as bird and rabbit parts. “They are already withered, and I should change them before they are too weak and break apart from the wind.”
When he was working on the third one, he noticed she was looking towards what he was doing often. She eventually came to stand next to the long edge of the table connected to the shorter one he was seated at.
Orpheus paused when she grabbed one of the trinkets by the bundle of dill stems and inspected it, making the bells jingle. She’d reached her hand right next to his own and was standing barely a foot away from him.
He couldn’t remember if he’d ever had a human willingly come near him of their own volition before if it wasn’t for their safety.