Mascara running down her little Bambi eyes
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Noel sat at the kitchen counter, arms crossed, watching as Ava flipped a golden pancake onto a growing stack. She had seen Ava cook before, but something about the way her girlfriend took such care in preparing breakfast made her pause.
"And this is what you call a pancake?" Rhys asked, staring at the fluffy stack as if it might explode.
"Yup," Ava said proudly. "My dads taught me when I was little."
"Interesting..." Rhys muttered, poking the pancake with a cautious finger.
"It's not poisoned, if that's what you're worried about," Noel called from her spot.
"I-I'm not worried!" Rhys stammered, quickly retracting his hand.
"Relax, Rhys, I'm just teasing."
"O-oh! Okay..."
Noel smirked, satisfied.
Across the table, Leif was stuffing his face. "I don't care if it's poisoned, Ava, I order you to make another batch!" he declared with his mouth full.
"Save some for Asch when he wakes up," Pierce said, eyeing Leif with mild disgust.
Ava flipped another pancake with a flourish. "This is probably my last one anyway. Feeding six people is a lot of work."
"We could always throw them back in the streets," Noel said cheerfully.
Ava shot her a glare.
"Kidding! Omigosh!" Noel laughed, holding up her hands in surrender.
Before Ava could retort, a groan came from the couch, and everyone's attention turned to Asch, who was finally stirring from unconsciousness.
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Asch's first instinct was to sit up fast, which immediately backfired as he clutched his head in pain. "What the hell happened? Where am I?"
"Prince Asch! You're awake," Rhys said, relieved.
"My head..." Asch muttered, eyes darting around the unfamiliar space.
"Oops, yeah, that would be my doing," Ava admitted sheepishly.
"What?" Asch whipped his head toward her, only to trip over Noel, who was sitting at the base of the couch watching TV.
The whole room went silent.
Asch stared at Noel. Noel stared back, raising an eyebrow before, to everyone's shock, she reached out and helped him to his feet.
"I'm fine!" Asch snapped, yanking his arm away.
"Whatever," Noel shrugged, turning her attention back to the TV.
Ava breathed a sigh of relief—at least they weren’t fighting.
Asch, however, was far from calm. "Why haven’t we killed the human and taken over this place as our base of operations?" he demanded.
Noel tensed next to Ava.
"Ava has given us no reason to use such violence," Rhys stated firmly.
"And having a human guide to Earth is helpful," Leif added, licking syrup from his fingers.
"Fine," Asch grumbled, crossing his arms. "The human stays alive. Might as well be good for something, I guess."
Ava noticed the way Noel’s grip on her fork tightened with each word Asch said. She knew this was personal for her girlfriend. Noel had overheard people she once trusted—her so-called comrades—debating whether or not she was worth keeping alive. The way Asch so casually talked about her own death now must have brought it all back.
Ava nudged Noel with her shoulder, a small gesture of reassurance. Noel softened, just a little.
But of course, the peace didn’t last long.
"Now that my life is done being threatened," Ava huffed, "we do have a problem, and her name is Lorelei."
At the mention of her best friend, Noel groaned loudly. "Oh, her." Not that she didn't like Lorelai, but sometimes her eccentric personality can be a bit too much even for her!
"I kinda promised to go to the mall with her today," Ava admitted.
"And you can't back out of that why?" Noel asked, already dreading the answer.
"Because she’s been covering my shifts at the store. But only if I went shopping with her one of these days."
"This could not have come at a worse time," Noel groaned.
"Yup," Ava said. "Which is why you’re all coming with me."
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The walk to the mall was tense, mostly because Ava and Noel spent the entire time drilling rules into the Daemos' heads.
"Don't talk to anyone unless they talk to you," Ava instructed.
"Stick with Ava and don’t wander," Noel added.
"And most importantly, do not, under any circumstances, start a commotion. We cannot have you guys get arrested," Ava stressed.
"Not like we could since you took our weapons," Leif muttered.
"I’m sure you’ll find a way, Leif," Noel hummed.
Asch, meanwhile, remained quiet, observing Noel. A year ago, he thought she was dead. Now, she was here, disguised as a human, living with one, courting one. It was almost too much to believe.
But before Asch could say anything, they arrived.
And immediately, chaos.
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Ava barely had time to process the familiar whirlwind of green barreling toward her before Lorelei crashed into her.
"Ava! Noel! You’re finally here!" Lorelei beamed, then suddenly paused. Her eyes swept over the group behind them.
And then she screamed.
"AVA. WHEN WERE YOU GONNA TELL ME YOU HAD SMOKING HOT FRIENDS WHO LOVE COSPLAYING?!"
The Daemos flinched at the attention.
"I—uh—" Ava stammered, glancing at Noel for help.
Noel, ever the supportive girlfriend, in one of the most cute dresses she had, just snorted and leaned against the wall, enjoying Ava’s suffering.
Unfortunately, Lorelei’s excited outburst drew in a crowd.
"Wow, their costumes look so real!" a passerby said.
"Where’d you get the horns? They look so authentic!" another added.
Asch, Rhys, and Pierce immediately went on guard, their instincts screaming at them to be wary.
"Stop that," Noel hissed. "Don't cause a scene."
Ava, visibly overwhelmed, grabbed Asch’s wrist and pulled him away from the growing crowd.
"We need to move. Now," she whispered.
Rhys followed close behind, but when they turned a corner, Ava froze.
"...Where are the others?"
Sure enough, Noel, Pierce, and Leif were missing.
"I can only hope Noel’s keeping them in check," Ava sighed.
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Meanwhile, Somewhere in the Mall...
Leif held up a shiny new phone case and whistled. "Earth has some cool trinkets."
"You’re not supposed to steal them," Noel said, smacking his hand.
"Borrow," Leif corrected.
"Leif, I swear—"
But before she could finish her sentence, an employee approached. "Can I help you find anything?"
Leif turned on his charm. "Yes, you can! What’s the best magical artifact you sell?"
The employee blinked. "Uh… we have phone charms?"
Leif gasped. "They come with charms?"
Noel groaned.
Meanwhile, Pierce was getting dragged into a store by Lorelei.
"You need a wardrobe upgrade," she said matter-of-factly.
"I don’t need—"
"Shhh," Lorelei hushed him, holding up a leather jacket. "Try this."
Pierce sighed in defeat.
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Back to Ava and Asch
Ava rubbed her temples. "We lost them. We actually lost them."
Asch frowned. "We should retrieve them before they do something stupid."
Ava nodded.
And with that, the hunt for the missing Daemos began.
She just hoped Noel was ok.
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