Cara fidgeted and paced around her room as Irene told her what she'd found out.
These beings that had attacked her and her Royals had had powers demonic in origin; as of yet, Douxie and Irene had found little else. Their friends beyond the Champions of Arcadia had begun reporting stories- other paranormals in the area had spotted them, been attacked by them. Some were wounded. No one was missing or worse, yet, but perhaps it was a matter of time.
Thus, once Irene finished, Cara excused herself and went downstairs.
She texted Krel, finding her worries repeatedly circling back to her favorite academic, who absolutely could not fight a demon or anyone working for one.
'Hey. Whatcha up to?'
'About to head to rehearsal, why?'
'Mind if I join you? It's boring to walk alone'
"And more dangerous," Cara muttered aloud to herself.
'Not at all. My place is on the way for you, right?'
'Yep. See you in a few, My Liege :)'
Cara breathed a quiet sigh of relief, her core uncomfortably warm with the anxiety coiled around it like some terribly tangled serpent. She'd come to conclude the sensation was similar to an accelerated heart rate from adrenaline for a human, and given Irene's descriptions, it was an experience of a similar level of unpleasantness.
She quickly headed out, half walking and half jogging to Krel's place.
He opened the door with a smile, and Cara returned it, the heat in her core fading with relief at the sight of him, replaced by a much more unobtrusive warmth.
"It's good to see you," she told him honestly as he locked his front door.
"Likewise," Krel bumped his elbow against hers. "Any particular reason-?"
"I enjoy your company. Is that good enough reason?" Cara tried.
Krel raised an eyebrow at her. "I know you. And I know about the attacks on paranormals- Douxie warned us. You're really here to protect me, because of your oath."
"Well- yes," Cara said, "and no. I do have to protect you, sure, but I also want to. I want to take care of you and see you safe and unharmed, because you're my friend, and I care about you, and in times like this I also worry about you. As I said, I like your company." She looked away as they rounded a corner, checking all around them. "I lost it once. I don't like the idea of losing you again- especially not permanently. This time I can be with you to protect you, and I won't forgive myself if I don't do so."
Krel must have realized how scared and genuine she was, because his attitude from a mere moment before melted away, replaced with a quiet reciprocal care and concern. "It'll be alright, Cara," he assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We aren't alone in this- and I won't let anything come between us again, not this time."
She finally looked at him, and she offered a sweet smile. "Well," she said, "even if I'd rather you were out of harm's way entirely- there's no one I'd rather take on the universe with than you."
Krel smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "So, you feel a need to walk with me to places now, hm?"
"If it doesn't impede you, My Liege," Cara said quickly.
Krel waved a hand. "Of course not. It's a lot of good time to talk. You've told me a little of what you've been up to- you said you've studied Earth engineering?"
"I did, for about a decade," Cara nodded. "I was desperate to get off-world. I was... I was alone. It's motivating."
Krel looked at her. "That it is," he said, voice low as he recalled the time between the loss of his parents and when he'd first made some real friends- how dreary and bleak it had been. But at least he'd had Aja and Varvatos. To be entirely alone, with no technology and no others of their kind...
Krel blinked and frowned. "Wait a sekton. How did you get 'the talk' if there were no other Akiridions around?"
Cara made a deeply disturbed face. "Uh. Well, it was both funny and horrifying, really- I uh... Stuart."
Krel stared, and then burst out laughing. "Stuart??? Stuart of Durio? You got the talk from-"
Cara groaned. "Yes. Yes I did. And it was every bit as nightmarish as you'd imagine."
Krel doubled over, howling. "Wh- how did you- how did he-"
"With an intergalactic encyclopedia of anatomy," Cara rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying not to laugh, which made Krel grab her arm and lean on her a bit to keep from collapsing to his knees right there on the spot. He was laughing so hard he'd gone near silent, save for intermittent weak squeaks.
"I'm glad one of us is enjoying the recollection of this experience," Cara noted sarcastically as Krel began to recover, immediately making him wheeze again, which drew a reluctant smile from her. Despite how awful the memory sounded (and was), the fact it was bringing him this much delight made it strangely better.
Cara smiled and hooked her arm around Krel's, helping steady him. "Kaius and Denar tried to tell me what had been happening on Akiridion since I left," she said. "What about you? What were you doing? I want to hear everything I missed."
Krel caught his breath and began to tell her- first bits and pieces, and then stories began to flow, almost beyond his control- she was just so easy to tell them to. He told her about all his proudest creations- he told her how he'd often clashed with his father's ideals over suitable focuses for royalty.
At this, Cara got a sympathetic look. "Oh honey," she said quietly, gently rubbing his arm. "You're brilliant. He should've taken an interest in who you are and what matters to you. I wish I could have been there- I'd've yelled at him."
"Would you?" Krel pressed, skeptical.
"Okay, no, he was intimidating, but I'd have yelled about him with you after," Cara corrected, and Krel chuckled, squeezing her hand which was resting on his arm.
"It's nice to know someone will always appreciate who I am," Krel admitted, smiling at her. "I remember working with you as a child, you watching me building some silly thing or another with this look of incredible wonder. I missed having someone who cherished that as much as I did."
"It was like magic to me," Cara said. "With your mind and your hands you crafted things I could only dream of. You made it look so easy. It relaxed me, you know? Just being with you and watching you build?"
Krel hummed a fond laugh. "It was calming to have the company. You were like- an anchor to reality, in a prevent-me-from-working-until-it-got-bad-for-me way. You were the only thing that seemed real, sometimes, when I was in that headspace."
Cara smiled a little. "That's funny. Those moments always came with so much freedom from reality, for me. I should have always been worried about something or other, being an Okhrana, but you took that all away for a while."
Krel frowned a little. "What do you mean?"
Cara stiffened slightly, something shifting behind her eyes. "Just- we had to always be alert and on watch. But we were good at it, so it wasn't really a problem. Don't worry about it."
Krel's frown deepened, but they had arrived at rehearsal, and so he didn't pry further.
***
With Krel busy so often, Denar thought it might be wise to check in on Aja and perhaps try to take her mind off her recent breakup for a while. So, he formulated a transduction using Krel's design for a serrator upgrade, and, safely hidden behind brunet hair and brown eyes, Denar knocked on the Mothership's door.
Aja was the one to answer, and seemed puzzled until Denar began speaking- good, his disguise was well and thoroughly working, then.
"My Liege," he said, "I hoped you might be willing to show me around town. I wouldn't want to stray anywhere dangerous, and I'd like to see the place that harbored you and Krel during the coup. It means a great deal to be here."
"Oh- um, sure," Aja said, closing and securing the door. "What would you like to see?"
"Everything," Denar said, rather eagerly. "I've only left Akiridion-5 a handful of times and I've never been somewhere as different and interesting as Earth. I want to see everything."
Aja looked at him, somewhat amused- though, Denar could tell her humor was still dampened, and rightfully so. "I can't promise you everything," she said, "but I'll show you as much of Arcadia as I remember- it has been a few years since I lived here."
"Of course," Denar said. "Cara mentioned someone named Stuart looked out for her?"
Aja smiled. "Ahhh. He's from Durio, and he looked out for Krel and I as well. Let's go visit him- he sells tacos, we can get lunch while we're at it."
"What is- are -tacos?" Denar queried, and Aja offered a chuckle.
"You will find out shortly. Come."
The duo walked to Arcadia Square, where Stuart's truck was welcoming the first of the lunch rush. When he spotted them, he waved enthusiastically.
"Aja! No one told me you were back on Earth," he greeted her with a huge grin.
"Sorry about that," Aja smiled back. "I've been... well, wallowing, to be perfectly honest with you. Steve and I broke up."
Stuart sobered. "I'm so sorry, Aja. Hey, hey, here, I'll throw in some churros on the house- and who's this?"
"Lord Denar of House Mirotvorets," Denar introduced himself. "I came to visit family, but it turns out my family is somewhat preoccupied with Aja's family."
"Ah, so that's why Krel's not around?" Stuart said.
"He and Cara Okhrana are in a play together at the moment," Aja nodded.
Stuart gasped. "They found each other??? Oh, that's wonderful! Well, at least there's been some good lately, then, hasn't there?"
"You knew Krel and Cara used to be friends?" Denar said, surprised.
"Of course," Stuart said. "Cara used to sing Krel's praises, so to speak- she missed him so much for so long. He was most of what she remembered of Akiridion; for a decade, he was the home she wanted to go back to. She's the reason I started following information about House Tarron in the first place."
"Then it seems I owe her a thank-you later," Aja said. "In the meantime-"
"Right, yes, lunch, of course! What can I get for you?"
Aja ordered- a diablo maximus and an assortment of other things, and Denar got a handful of things as well- by the time he finished asking Aja and Stuart what things were, they were both more peppered than Aja's Diablo Maximus.
As she often should with Denar, Aja should have been annoyed, but his curiosity reminded him of when she'd first come to Earth- she made a note to herself to introduce him to a garden hose next.
After their feast (Denar tried only one churro, and left the rest for Aja), she did exactly that, and Denar, at first, was frozen in shock. Then he burst into bubbly laughter, throwing his arms wide and tilting his face into the spray, scrunching his eyes shut.
Aja laughed at the look on his face, at once thrilled and twisted as he spluttered a bit. She tilted the hose away, and Denar made a noise of protest and almost fell over in an attempt to chase it, at which Aja fought to suppress a smile.
She had a sudden, reassuring certainty- she would be alright. Aja would get through all this pain and worry, the same way she had after the coup- with her brother, and her friends, and with time, and when the sky felt as though it were falling she could rely on that. She was safe with her friends, with her family she'd built.
Aja smirked and sprayed Denar directly, whereupon he shrieked indignantly, and she laughed.
***
Douxie plunked down a very thick tome with a Latin title on the dining room table in the Mothership.
Irene raised an eyebrow at it. "I hate this already."
"I know," Douxie said dryly. "I'm all for light reading, but even Tolkien would find this overwrought."
"Victor Hugo would cry if he clapped eyes on this beast," Irene deadpanned.
Douxie chuckled. "Isaiah would flinch."
Irene laughed, then sighed and opened the thick cover, bound in a stiff layer of leather, tooled with intricate patterns. "Casperan, just so you know, if this turns into a regular occurrence during your crises, our truce is done for."
"Milady Hall, I would never dream of doing such a thing to you," Douxie replied, bowing to her.
She raised an eyebrow. "Why are you calling me... that? It's been a few centuries since that's been socially acceptable."
Douxie went red clear down his neck. "I- well- listen, I live with Krel, they still talk like that on Akiridion-"
Instead of laughing or seeming skeptical, Irene's eyes brightened a little with curiosity, and she tilted her head slightly. "They do?" she almost seemed surprised.
"Oh yes," Douxie confirmed. "You should hear how he and Cara are with each other. She calls him 'My Liege' more than she calls him by name, and he calls her 'My Lady' and 'Lady Cara' as methods of endearment and respect. The formality is like a verbal dance between them, always twirling around each other- affectionately, of course. It's ever-present."
Irene scoffed. "You're a dork."
Douxie looked at her. "You haven't noticed? Not me being a dork, everyone seems to have noticed that- Cara and Krel, though?"
"I've noticed– I thought it was for the play, or the fact they're totally flustered around each other... Cara doesn't talk about Akiridion customs a whole lot."
Douxie shook his head. "Krel's explained a little. It's not that they're flustered, really. Cara has this- this oath, to Krel and his family, her whole House did. Krel said it's personal, so I don't know much, but she's expected to keep a certain distance from him because of it, and he keeps trying to push against it without accidentally sending her away. They really do talk like that, they really do mean it, and it's really not as simple as any other teenagers have the privilege of having it." He paused briefly, then added, "Krel doesn't like it. I can tell. He wants her back."
"Oh," Irene muttered, "Oh my... I didn't think she'd be openly trying to get him away. Usually she says that stuff in private."
"That's the thing. She doesn't want to push him away any more than he wants to be pushed away, and she hasn't said anything outright," Douxie said. "Krel didn't tell me that, I can just tell when she comes over- it's out of obligation. She hates it every single time she pulls away from him. She wants him back too, and badly, but in her mind she can't." He shrugged. "So, the titles are their way of- circumnavigating all that. It's the love language they're allowed to speak to each other."
"... They've been watching Phantom of the Opera videos?" Irene offered, a small smile on her face. "They seem comfortable enough when they're at our house? I'm sure I'd notice if they weren't."
"Maybe Cara is better at acting than we anticipated," Douxie said. "Or maybe they're so good at the little steps of this dance they're too smooth to see anymore. She's been practicing them all her life, after all."
"You seem to know a lot about her," Irene looked back down at the book in front of her.
"Of course I do," Douxie said. "She's caught playing the part of someone good enough to meet all the expectations of her predecessors, and she can't ever do it well enough. She's spent years holding people at arm's length when she wants to pull them close and keep them safe and keep them near. I know her."
Douxie checked the book's extensive table of contents. "But we aren't here to talk about the kids. They have all the time in the universe to grow, to figure each other out. Krel will figure out how to get through to her in time, and she will learn to let him in, and vice versa. Right this second, there are significantly more pressing matters."
Irene plunked down in a chair next to him. "I suppose," she said, frowning a bit. "I think I'd rather talk about the kids than read this book."
Douxie snorted. "Can't argue there..."
There was a long silence. Then-
"What's your favorite color, Irene?" He asked quietly.
Irene laughed shortly, shocked. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," Douxie grinned a bit at the book, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
She shook her head. "Purple," she said. "You?"
"Dark blue," Douxie replied. "Hence the hair."
Irene kept a polite smile while she studied the colored ends of his dark hair. "I'll admit, I haven't noticed how nice the color is 'til now." She flipped a page without looking away from the color, trying to imagine the shade on one of her next costumes for the show. "At least we can agree on some aesthetic choices. It'll help with the show, I'm sure."
Douxie smiled. "For the record, I like purple, as well," he said. "It reminds me of when I was little and I'd take walks just after twilight, with my mother." He cocked his head, looking at her much the same way she'd studied him. "You know, you would look incredible with purple hair."
Irene's eyes met his, but she quickly looked down instead, noticing his hand covering most of the paragraphs of the open pages on the book in front of him. "Let me guess, a pixie cut, too?" She responded, as quickly as she could manage after rather abruptly and startlingly recognizing his face- one she knew from a time long ago. A face she hadn't realized she'd... missed.
Douxie smiled. "No," he said. "You could make a pixie work, don't get me wrong, but that length doesn't seem like you. I'm thinking a length more around here." With two fingers extended and flat, he gestured to a line two or three inches below her chin. "Thick, and layered, and fully dark purple with more vibrant tips."
"Very specific," Irene suddenly felt conscious of her breathing, and for a moment she nearly had to stop and focus on keeping herself from reacting to his movement. "Also very... emo. My parents– family wouldn't accept all that, heh."
"That's too bad," Douxie noted mildly. "It'd frame and complement your cheekbones and jaw nicely, I think. We wouldn't want to upset your family about me any further, though, now would we?"
Irene tried to come up with a quick remark of what he'd done recently that could've turned her family against him, but nothing came to mind. She raised her eyebrows at the revelation, and looked at Douxie once again, this time channeling the strange awkwardness she felt into a smile. "What am I saying, we're too old for peer pressure. There's only, like, a dozen people in our age range, right?" Irene started tapping her finger, remembering what Douxie had said about the hairstyle, and looking at his.
"Probably fewer. Why?" Douxie asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you scheming-"
"Oh, nothing, just the abolition of memories I've made the past few years." She ran her other hand through her waist long hair, with a tight grip as she neared the last few inches. "I don't think my hair's been that short since the 20s..." she sighed, and looked back at Douxie with a slightly dorky, pressed-lipped smile.
"You've cut it before?" Douxie prompted curiously, leaning his arms on the tabletop.
"Oh, you weren't there for that, huh?" Irene smirked, combing her hand through her hair one more time before removing her chunky white headband from her hair. "How does it feel to be the first person in a century to get me to consider following my impulsive thoughts and chop all this off?"
Douxie got a Look in his eye and said, "I'll let you know if you do it."
Irene shook her head a little then pulled her hair back with both hands. "Layered a-line, right?"
Douxie went wide-eyed. "Yes ma'am. It'd be stunning."
Irene winked, then closed her eyes to concentrate on the image in her head– and before she knew it, her head, and neck, felt incredibly lighter. It took her one last hair ruffle to ensure she hadn't accidently made herself bald, and she managed to open her eyes. "Pancaakes, this feels weird– did I do it right?"
Douxie was gaping, eyes glued on her and practically bugging out, a vibrant flush rather quickly settling across his features. "... wow," he breathed. "You look... you look perfect, Irene."
Irene's face went pale, "Are you– okay? You're..." Irene started digging through her bag for her phone to look at her reflection. "I don't see any bald spots– you didn't mention any fringe, but I thought if I was going new I should go all out– well, without any color changes–" she looked back up at him. "Is it hot in here or something? Do you need water?"
Douxie gave a crooked grin. "I'm just fine. You really do look amazing. The fringe is a great addition-"
Irene, once again, tried to study his face for deception. "Listen, you're freaking me out– I can put it back?"
Douxie shook his head rapidly. "No, no, I'm not being sarcastic. I meant all of that- please, keep it. It looks much more comfortable for you this way."
"Okay," Irene looked at him one moment more, glad that whatever tension had been plaguing her (even before the haircut) was draining away rapidly. "Okay, good! Because this- you're right, this is wow."
Douxie grinned, a much more normal look that set Irene properly at ease. "I was right about it complementing your jaw and cheekbones, and the dark fringe brings out your eye color..." he paused, humming a short laugh at himself. "... I worked as a hair stylist back in the 70s and 80s, does it show-"
Irene laughed. "I was wondering- you didn't have this much hair expertise back in Camelot, I remember."
Douxie groaned. "My hair was a disaster back then, I am well aware, please let that memory die-"
"- man bun, man bun," Irene chanted quietly, smirking, and Douxie plunked his forehead down on the book.
"Noooo," he protested, even as he chuckled weakly.
Irene cackled. "Okay, alright," she said. "Were there any more distinguishing features you can remember on Sir Creppyface?"
Douxie snorted, then tried to think, eyes flickering across the page without absorbing a thing. "There was- some sort of red symbol on its back," he recalled after a moment. "Enclosed in a full circle. You know as well as I do that circles have power, especially in demonic magic."
"Usually symbolizing a barrier without flaw or corner," Irene nodded, already turning back to the table of contents, "a shape that contains magical energy without weaknesses or stress points."
Douxie frowned at the table of contents. "Mother of Mordenkainen, there's a lot of symbolism in demonic magic," he muttered. "We'll be here another millennia before we get through all this-"
Irene hummed in acknowledgement as her eyes skimmed the page. "Wait, wait," she pointed at a spot on the list, "'Demonic seals'- page 1130. Good grief, this book is huge-"
Douxie grunted as he opened to a spot near the correct page, then began flipping through. "'Demonic seals'," he read aloud, "'are individualized markings that serve as anchors for specific demons' power on the material plane. They are always contained in a closed circular or elliptical shape'."
"Do you remember what was in the symbol?" Irene peeked at the next few pages.
Douxie shook his head. "I couldn't see it clearly enough. Hang on, let me go get Archie."
He came back five minutes later with Archie screeching and thrashing in his arms like a normal cat. The moment Irene looked, however, Archie switched to being dignified.
"Good evening, Ms. Hall," he greeted her while Douxie caught his breath, glaring at the little cat dragon.
"Hello," Irene raised an eyebrow. "What was that about?"
"Douxie roused me from a particularly pressing nap," Archie defended calmly.
Irene shook her head. "Ooookay. Listen, we need your help identifying the symbol on that demonic soldier's armor."
"There wasn't really a good angle for me to see it clearly," Archie warned as he leapt onto the table, "but as Douxie doesn't have the benefit of darkvision, I'll do my best." He shifted to his dragon form to more easily turn the pages and began searching in silence.
Irene sat back in her chair, and cast her gaze around- only to see Douxie, looking at her.
"I still can't get over you," he smiled, and nodded while looking at her hair.
Irene tsked and said, "Callate," then leaned forward again to see what Archie was up to.
Archie shook his head in frustration. "As I thought," he said, "nothing looks familiar. I'm sorry."
Irene sighed. "That's alright," she said. "It's fine. We know to try to look for the seal if these things pop up again- I can text Cara and ask her if she saw it when she and the Tarrons were attacked."
"We'll figure it out," Douxie nodded with an oddly reassuring certainty. "We make a good team when we actually bother to try to be. These things won't evade us for long."
Irene smiled, and was surprised that it came naturally, not feeling forced in the least. "Count on it."