The eyes didn't blink.
I didn't move.
Senna's grip on my hand had progressed from holding to actively testing bone durability.
The cave smelled like sulfur and wet stone.
And the demon at the end of the passage was staring directly at me like I had personally walked into its house and stolen its furniture.
"Okay," I said slowly.
"There is a demon."
"Juvenile," Senna whispered.
I turned toward her.
"…Is that supposed to help."
"It is smaller."
"That is not helpful information."
She hesitated.
"…It is less large."
I looked up at the cave ceiling.
Then pointed at it.
"THIS," I shouted, "IS YOUR FAULT."
The echo bounced through the tunnel.
Nothing answered.
No divine laughter.
No commentary.
Just silence.
"I KNOW YOU'RE WATCHING!"
"Nkrr."
I looked down.
The demon had moved closer.
Of course it had.
Now I could see it clearly.
Low body.
Ash-colored skin.
Head slightly too large.
Eyes absurdly round.
The kind of eyes that looked like they belonged on a creature twice its size and had somehow been installed here by mistake.
Both of them fixed on me.
"Nkrr."
Its head tilted.
Beside me Senna went very still.
"She's not answering," she murmured.
"She always answers."
"Perhaps she finds this funnier."
I pointed up again.
Nothing.
I lowered my arm.
"…Great."
I rubbed my face.
"I'm being ignored by a goddess while negotiating with a demon."
"Nkrr?"
"I don't know what that means."
"Nkrr?"
"I REALLY don't know what that means."
Senna's pen appeared.
Scratch scratch scratch.
"It expects a response," she said calmly.
"To what?"
"That is unclear."
I sighed.
"Alright. We're leaving."
"Nkrr."
"I'm assuming that means goodbye."
The demon walked closer.
Right up to my boots.
Then—
"Nnhh."
The sound was softer.
Lonely.
Senna spoke quietly.
"Juvenile demons develop environmental bonding instinct early. Your Arc Vein output feels familiar to it."
I stared at her.
"You knew this."
"The timing was poor."
"I HAVE BEEN IN THIS CAVE FOR TEN MINUTES!"
"You were panicking."
"I WAS NOT PANICKING—"
"You were holding my hand."
"YOU were holding MY hand—"
"You did not let go."
We both looked down.
Still holding hands.
"…Ah."
We separated instantly.
Like touching fire.
The demon watched us.
"Nkrr."
"Don't judge me," I muttered.
The demon sat down.
Just sat.
I stared.
"It sat."
"Yes."
"Why."
"It believes we are staying."
"We are absolutely not staying."
"Kk."
The demon stood.
Turned.
Walked deeper into the cave.
Stopped.
Looked back.
Waiting.
Senna adjusted her glasses.
"It appears to want us to follow."
I groaned loudly.
"RAEL!"
From the split in the cave:
"STILL HERE!"
"WE'RE GOING A LITTLE DEEPER!"
Pause.
"WHY."
"The demon wants to show us something!"
Longer pause.
"…WHAT."
"I DON'T KNOW!"
Davan's voice echoed through the cave.
"That is not standard procedure."
"I KNOW!"
We followed.
Three steps later the cave floor dipped suddenly.
Senna's boot slipped.
"Ah—!"
She fell backward.
Straight into me.
"Geh—!"
I grabbed her before she hit the ground.
Unfortunately my hand landed somewhere extremely not strategic.
Everything froze.
Her eyes widened.
My brain shut down.
Then—
"Kyaa—!"
Senna launched backward like a startled cat.
"YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!"
"I DID NOT!"
"YOU GRABBED—!"
"YOU FELL!"
"THAT WAS NOT AN APPROPRIATE LOCATION!"
"I WAS TRYING TO STOP YOU FROM DYING!"
"THERE WERE MANY OTHER LOCATIONS!"
She smacked me on the head with her book.
"Idiot!"
Behind us Mira stepped quietly out of the darkness.
She had clearly witnessed everything.
Her face didn't change.
But she moved forward slightly.
Standing between me and the deeper cave.
Calm.
Quiet.
Protective.
Senna fixed her robe furiously.
"That did not happen."
"Agreed."
"You will never mention it."
"What event."
Her pen pointed at me.
"Correct."
The demon blinked.
"Nkrr."
"Even the demon is judging us," I muttered.
The cave ended in a narrow crack in the stone.
Cold air drifted through it.
Rain.
Grass.
Outside.
The demon sat beside the crack.
"Nnhh."
I crouched.
"You found a way out."
"Nnhh."
"And you didn't use it."
Behind me Senna spoke softly.
"Outside is worse."
I looked at the crack again.
Then at the demon.
My hand slid slowly down my face.
"I am not taking you home."
"Nkrr."
"I'm serious."
"Nkrr."
"We are already in debt."
The demon stared.
Then stepped forward.
One small ash-gray paw rested on my boot.
Two seconds.
Then it stepped back.
Turned.
And disappeared into the darkness.
Polla read the report.
Then read it again.
Her eyes moved slowly from the paper to me.
"So," she said carefully.
"You entered a demon cave."
"Yes."
"You encountered a juvenile demon."
"Yes."
"You… talked to it."
"Define talked."
Senna raised her hand slightly.
"It was technically interpretive communication."
Polla stared at both of us.
Then sighed.
Long.
Tired.
Rael leaned over the counter.
"Are we getting paid or not?"
"No bounty," Polla said flatly.
Rael slammed her hands on the counter.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO BOUNTY?!"
"You did not kill anything."
"That wasn't the point!"
"That is literally the point of extermination quests."
Stamp.
The paper disappeared into a drawer.
"Filed under unresolved creature observation."
I considered that a victory.
Rael did not.
Rael dropped into her chair.
"You talked to a demon."
"Context," Senna said calmly.
Davan sighed.
"That was not the expected outcome of the quest."
Mira placed her tea down quietly.
Her hand moved slightly across the table.
Stopped a few inches from mine.
"One quest at a time," she said softly.
"One quest at a time," I agreed.
Veyra replayed the moment.
The paw on the boot.
Two seconds.
"He crouched down in the Maw of Grerath and talked to a demon," she whispered.
She leaned back slowly.
"That was absolutely not part of the script."
Her eyes shifted to the tavern scene.
To the small space between two hands.
Her smile was quiet.
"Not yet," she said softly.
The viewer count continued climbing.
She didn't look at it.