As I was behind the counter, and in front of me were Lilith and Varania, I asked them, "So what do you want this time?"
Lilith immediately darted her eyes at Orla, her head tilting with some curiosity and amusement. As I saw Orla freeze, her fork was halfway to the omelette she was trying to eat. She was pale yet watching, and her terror was visibly warring with her duty to observe.
"What do I want? Methinks about the thing on her table…" Lilith said…
The thing on her table? The omelette?
"Do you mean the dish on her table? Is that what you want?"
"Yeah…"
Ah, she doesn't try to intimidate Orla; she is just curious about the dish…"Well, about that dish…It isn't in the menu…"
She immediately turned her face to me. "What dost thou mean?" Her voice was so low and soft, like a puppy…
I sighed. That soft pleading tone was almost more dangerous than her. "It's not on the menu because I just made it for us for breakfast, " I explained, gesturing between myself and Orla. "It's just a noodle omelette…"
"Why? Why…" Her voice began to rise in pitch, a hint of frustration creeping in. She pointed at Orla. "She hath the dish, and thou canst not make it for me? (She had the dish, and you can't make it for me?)" Her eyes glazed towards Orla with a little jealousy. "Who is she? That she hath divers treatment than me, Darya?"
"Is she your lover, Darya?" Varania interjected, glaring at Orla…
…
..
.
WHAT!
My mind blanked for a second after hearing that… "Lover?" I sputtered, turning to Varania, who was still glaring daggers at Orla. "Are you insane? Why do you think that?"
I turned back to Lilith. Her soft, puppy-like expression was gone, replaced by a flat, unreadable stare, as her silence now somehow was more terrifying than anything she had done before.
"Well, you are human… right? A lot of short-living creatures, like yourself, tend to form romantic relationships with others. It's only natural to assume." I could feel the tension in the room rising as Varania's words hung in the air, waiting for a response. However, she just kept going, "Especially since you had visited the human realm, right? So, in my mind, you must have taken some human from there and brought it in here…"
Why did she think like that? It was like we humans easily picked partners like picking pets.
"First of all, your logic is so wrong in every sense…"
"Wrong?" she asked…
"Why do you think we humans easily pick partners like picking plants in the woods?"
"Hmmm, is it wrong? I thought you humans liked that…" She kept going with this topic: "As I observed some humans' kingdom, they always had a different partner every single night…"
HOLD ON! WHAT DOES SHE MEAN 'DIFFERENT PARTNER EVERY SINGLE NIGHT'?
"What?" I was shocked. "Are you saying that humans change partners every night?" I couldn't believe what she was suggesting.
"Yes, it seems to be a common practice among some humans," she replied with a knowing smile.
"A common practice, huh?" I sputtered, "Varania, what kind of kingdoms are you observing? Brothels? The back alleys of some port city? Humans are very diverse..."
"Hmph," Varania snorted, "I saw what I saw."
I glazed over a little bit to face the real danger. Lilith's flat, unreadable stare was still locked on me.
"So who is she?" Lilith asked, in a voice of cold like ice…
"She is just one of the commanders from the human realm who is here on orders from her lord…"
"Lord?" She murmured…
"Muranu, the Lord of the realm…"
Lilith's cold stare didn't waver, yet her head tilted slightly. "Muranu…" she repeated. "So, thou didst visit the human realm, and thou dost now entertain a commander from their lord?" Her gaze flicked to the back. "Thou art truly a collector of strays, Darya…"
"What do you mean, Lilith?" Her thinking, it feels like I am a gigolo in here… "I didn't pick her for my entertaining or my personal pleasure," I replied sharply. "She is here for her own purpose that fulfils her duty from her lord..."
Lilith watched me with the coldness in her stare. "Her duty…" she mused, her voice soft and dangerous. "Or thy pleasure. 'Tis oft the same for mortals, is't not?"
OKAY WHAT IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW? Why does she change suddenly? I gazed back to Varania… This started from her asking about Orla as my lover, and suddenly… I gazed back at Lilith. She became paranoid…
"Well, Lilith…" I began cautiously, trying to diffuse the tension in the room. "I assure you, Orla's presence here is solely for her own reasons, not for my pleasure or entertainment."
Lilith's eyes narrowed, a hint of suspicion still lingering as she continued to watch me closely.
I said, "Well, how about… I make you the omelette, so there is no one who gets different treatment here…"
I didn't wait for her to answer; I immediately went to the kitchen, grabbed a clean pan and pulled more noodles and eggs from the inventory.
The tense silence of the room was broken only by the cracks of eggs into a bowl and the sizzle of the hot pan. I risked a glance at Lilith from the window. Her flat, unreadable stare had softened…
As the two portions of omelette had finished, I immediately went to them. I placed their plate in front of them. "There…Enjoy…"
Lilith's eyes lit up with gratitude as she took the first bite, her expression transforming from stoic to appreciative.
"So this dish is called an omelette… that is what thou didst call it…"
"Yes…"
"Tis delicious… 'Tis made from eggs and…what is this other ingredient?" Lilith started to ask with her mouth full, her curiosity piqued by the new flavour.
SHE IS BACK…
"Noodles…"
"Noodles???"
"Yes… If you know about Lagana, it's the same as that…"
"Interesting…" She continued to eat, "However… I have ne'er tasted lagana ere this."
"What do you mean, you never tasted Lagana?"
"Well, I wot of lagana, but I have ne'er tasted it…"
"Is there no lagana in your realm?"
Lilith shook her head. "Nay, we have no lagana in my realm. 'Tis a new experience for me."
I glanced back to Varania and asked, "How about you, Varania? Have you never tasted lagana before?"
"Me?" Suddenly she stopped and answered, "I had tasted it before, yet in one of the human's kingdoms… Not in any demon's realm…"
"Interesting," I remarked, intrigued by Varania's revelation. "So, Lilith, what daily dish do you typically eat in your realm?"
"I do not oft eat…" She answered while eating…
"Don't eat? What does that mean?"
"Tis simple, I eat not…"
"Do you not feel hungry or something like that…"
Lilith shook her head and explained, "Demons like myself require not sustenance in such a way as mortals do. We draw our energy from other sources."
Other sources? It smells fishy or something dangerous… I don't want to know about that…
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