Galahad approached slowly, carrying that unmistakable shyness of his. His hand lifted only a few inches toward Xol before stopping midair, suspended somewhere between impulse and fear.
Satana noticed immediately.
"Come on, you can pet him. He won't hurt you. He's a good boy."
(Satana said with a wide smile, not a trace of mockery in her voice.)
"Right? Aren't you a good boy? Yes, yes, who's a good boy? Who is?"
(She said while affectionately petting Xol with cheerful, carefree ease.)
"See? He's friendly."
Satana said to Galahad, this time smiling encouragingly, inviting her to trust him enough to touch him.
Then she tilted her head upward, looking for Morgan, the same bright cheerfulness still fresh in her voice.
"Isn't that right, Morgan? He's a good boy, isn't he?"
But Morgan wasn't really there. Or rather, his body was, but he wasn't. His eyes were open, yet he was looking inward, somewhere the noise of the world arrived muffled and distorted, as though reality had been placed behind a thick pane of glass.
"Morgan. Morgan. Morgan!"
(Satana repeated, raising her voice with each attempt.)
The sound slowly broke through, like light slipping beneath a closed door.
"MORGAN!!"
(Satana shouted, this time holding nothing back.)
The shout yanked him back all at once. Morgan flinched, his body reacting before his mind, and for a moment his eyes darted around the room as though he recognized nothing, as though he were completely disoriented, as if he had briefly forgotten where he was.
"Morgan... are you okay?"
(Luzbel asked softly, her eyes fixed on him.)
Luzbel watched him with the kind of expression that couldn't quite decide whether to worry or not. But as soon as Morgan felt himself fully return, he shook his head a couple of times and flashed a wide grin from ear to ear.
"Yeah, of course. I'm great. Better than ever."
He gave a thumbs-up with a conviction that was perhaps a little too enthusiastic to be entirely believable.
Luzbel wasn't buying it. She stepped closer, studying him carefully.
"Are you really okay? For a moment it looked like you'd gone somewhere else."
(Luzbel said, never taking her eyes off him.)
"Yeah, really. I just got lost in thought for a moment, that's all. Sorry, hehe."
(Morgan replied, scratching the back of his neck with a crooked smile meant to be reassuring.)
There was a second of silence.
Then Satana, who had clearly been waiting for her opportunity, spoke up in the most innocent tone imaginable.
"Well... or maybe he was thinking about you, Miss Luzbel."
(Satana said, unable to completely hide her grin.)
The effect was immediate. Luzbel instantly turned bright red.
"H-Hey! What do you think you're saying?"
(Luzbel said, completely caught off guard.)
"Oh, come on, Miss Luzbel. We all heard what you were telling Morgan before we came in. 'Oh, Morgan, I'll protect you no matter what'... something like that, wasn't it?"
(Satana said, no longer bothering to hide her laughter.)
That was all it took.
Luzbel, red all the way to her ears, immediately launched into a scolding aimed at Satana that quickly spiraled into chaos, while Galahad desperately tried to calm things down with little success, stepping between them with his hands outstretched and the expression of someone who had absolutely no idea what to do.
Morgan watched them from outside the commotion, wearing a small, peaceful smile. It was the kind of smile someone gives when they're grateful for other people's noise because it distracts them from their own silence.
But Xol didn't move.
He didn't join the chaos or the laughter.
He simply sat there staring at Morgan, unmoving, with that serious calm that needs no words. There was something in his eyes, a quiet certainty, like that of someone who has smelled the coming storm before the sky has even begun to change color.
Morgan could smile.
He could shake his head, give a thumbs-up, and insist he was fine as many times as necessary.
But to Xol, it was completely obvious.
Something was wrong.
End of Chapter.
Next Chapter: Was It the Right Choice? Part 2