A real bond

Rumius noticed quickly how nighttime in Agravoss was a completely different beast. In the day, hawkers and merchants would line the streets, selling their wares and bargaining prices in broad daylight. It was loud, cramped and boisterous, but exploding with a sort of alive commotion. 

Rumius liked to walk these streets with master. The air was always a mixture of noxious and fragrant. Fragrant from the mouthwatering smell of salt-roasted fish, or fresh vegetables cooked in mysterious meat that tasted like beef. Noxious from the odour of sweating bodies and piling trash accumulating on the sidewalks and in the drains. 

A scent of flowers mischievously found its way to his nostrils in the dark as Rumius trotted behind Glia. She was dragging him along by the hand. The smell reminded him of the colour pink.

In the night, a discreet chatter fluttered above the sound of footsteps and occasional voices, and Rumius instinctively craned his neck to listen. Overall, the city was much more silent, giving it the feel of a enigma, watching all who passed its streets. Well, it would typically be that way. 

On this night however, it was not meant to be. 

As Rumius walked, a incessant and colourful drone dashed any attempts of his at admiring the landscape.

" …it's been like…two years now? Yeah, two years or so since I've quit adventuring and become a mercenary here. You'd find a lot of merits for staying in a single city instead of travelling around. Although sometimes I wonder what it is like staying in a dwarven city. I went to one of their big cities one time for a long mission. The client initially requested that we escort him to the city only. There was some traffic along the way but once we got there, he was so please with our service that he paid for us to stay the week so that we could escort him back later! Have you ever been to a dwarves city before? I've never seen anything like it! Though personally I'd rather stay in Agravoss still. I was born here, you know…" Glia prattled on incessantly. If Rumius has to describe her, she was like a bright, warm but very obnoxious ray of light in a dark movie theatre.

" Oh."

" I see.."

" Yeah! Yeah! Mhm-hmm." Rumius replied with perfunctory agreements and a dulled, half-humorous sense of annoyance. 

He didn't hate it that she was talkative, but itch-that-I-can't scratch feeling was getting to him so he tried distracting himself with the surrounding sights. The scenery passed by with little change until suddenly, a small commotion caught his eye.

A small crowd had gathered on the other side of the walkway where two demon men were locking horns with each other over a table. Literally. 

Their horns were coupled against each other in a manner of ' knot' that seemed to make it so that the only way to move was left and right in a semicircular plane.

Shouts rang out from the onlookers around them, cheering and jeering as each man pulled with all their might! 

" COME ON GUSTAV!!!" 

" DESTROY HIM VA'L!!" 

" PLEASE WIN MY LIFE'S SAVINGS ARE RIDING ON THIS!!!" 

Veins bulged like steel pipes from under the men's skin as their thick jugulars contarcted hard to push the other's head down. 

" Oh? Horn wrestling." Came a voice from above him. " Are you interested?" 

Rumius found Thay he had stopped involuntarily while watching the match. He gave Glia an apologetic look. 

" It's my first time seeing something like this. Sorry." He apologised meekly. 

" Oh, don't worry! It's fine. We can watch." 

As she said that, a roar went up from the crowd. One demon had claimed the upper hand. His face, a pale sheet, was flushed red as he shouted a battle cry. Another roar of triumph and wails of misery went up from the crowd as he stood up and pumped his fist in victory. 

Rumius moved instinctively give gentle claps as he looked on. 

' Damn…that looks fun.' He thought with a longing to try, For reason unknown, a mysterious urge compelled his hands to run shyly through his hair. 

" Pfttt."

Rumius's face instantly flushed with embarrassment as he turned around to a Glia who was barely successful in retraining her laughter. 

Rumius immediately felt his face heat up more as he opened his mouth to find an adequate excuse.

" That was quite cute to see, did it really seem that fun?" Glia said as she giggled teasingly. Failing to find one, Rumius adopted a hurried foot pace and walked off. He heard Glia's giggles and footsteps follow him like a cloud.

When Rumius realised he didn't know where he was going he thought quickly to save himself from another embarrassment. He slowed down and meekly let Glia take the lead. 

" Oh? Ah, right, okay." He heard her say as he admired the gravel. 

After a moment of silence, Glia began again. " Right, so. Hmm. Let's see where I left off." Rumius heard Glia say.

' Oh no. Here we go again…' he thought with dread as he racked his brain to think of a way to stop the incoming catastrophe to his ears and sanity.

" D-Do you like it?" Rumius blurted out thoughtlessly. ' What am I saying?' Rumius confused even himself. 

Similarly, Glia frowned. " What? Like it?" 

" Like umm…the thing that they were doing. With the horns- AH! Horn wrestling! Do like it?" 

Glia adopted a thinker's pose as she walked, placing her hand to her chin. " It!s not a bad game.' She drawled. " But my neck isn't quite strong enough to hold against most people. Ari is ridiculously good at it, though." 

" Oh. I see. I see" Rumius said, nodding. 

Glia gave him a strange look with her eyebrows. " Why such a strange question?" She asked. 

" Oh it's just that…um…er.."

Rumius could almost feel his brain overheating into overdrive as he laughed nervously. No way he could tell her that he was trying to keep her from talking! 

Rumius dug deep into his memory, trying to remember the topics he used to rely on when talking with bureaucrats as an office worker in the past.

' What were they…what were they? I need to clam down err…food? But she adventures a lot so maybe- but I don't know much other than bread, porridge and cheese! Can we talk about random stall foods? Umm…what about personality? She has a really lively personality. Maybe we could talk about-' 

Inspiration struck. Probalem was that it struck so deep that it changed Rumius's aims from acquiring small talk to genuine curiosity. However, he wasn't sure that he could ask this question. 

Coincidentally, Glia had her head turned to him at that very instant and his thoughts must have shown have shown on his face or body somehow, as he saw Glia' eyes flicker with a sense of recognition.

" Oh!!!" She squealed. " I know that! You just had that an…uh..' AHA!' moment! I know that! Did you realise something?" 

Her unnatural but spot-on guess took Rumius by surprise. ' Shit…' Rumius thought nervously. ' Curiosity kills the cat.'

And Rumius could practically meow right now.

" I have a question." Rumius admitted after moments of hesitant eye contact. " But it's a strange question."

Glia' smile vanished like a pop was he her lisls formed an 'O'. " Alright. Let's hear it! " she responded enthusiastically.

Rumius gnawed on his lower lip. Was this a good idea? Would he end up touching a nerve? In the end, it was Glia's smiling face that tipped him over the edge.

" You're a very…lively person Glia. You've talked to me a lot and I really enjoy the conversations we have." Rumius began cautiously as he edged towards the second half. 

Hearing his words, Glia's smile only widened, showing her sharp teeth and shrunken, glowly eyes. Rumius's heart jumped even further up his throat at the scene.

Instinctively, Rumius phrased his question to hide behind the guise of being a child, shocking even himself as he asked advanced onto the next part.

" I've read in books that demons are like lone wolves. You guys are supposed to be cold and dangerous. But you don't seem like that at all." He mumbled. 

Suddenly feeling inadequate at his question, Rumius hurriedly explained: " I mean that in a good way! Most demons that I've met or…or I've seen Master talk with aren't like you! Even with Ari and the others, you're the most upbeat demon I've met." 

Rumius trailed off, not knowing what to add. He watched on with bated breath as Glia nodded slowly, as if processing his question. 

" Well, I guess I am a little different from other demons. But it's just because I'm pursuing a different ' Mal'zhivon(Purpose)'. We're not that different if you think about it that way." She said. 

Rumsiu didn't recognize the unfamiliar term but he didn't have time to pose a question 

" But since we're on the topic, can I ask you something?" Glia asked. 

" What do you think a companion is? "

Rumius jumped slightly, not expecting his question to be answered by another question. And also not one that seemed so bizarrely random. 

" A-A companion?" He repeated

' Mhm.' Glia nodded. A look of curiosity took over her face as she posed the question with transparent intention. There was a dead seriousness in her voice and eyes that Rumius had never heard before, although she was still smiling in a friendly manner. It was a dissonant expression that made his skin involuntarily crawl.

Accepting the question, Rumius thought about it uncomfortablyfor a moment before answering.

" I guess, a companion is like a friend? They're someone you can trust." Rumius said. Although his tone was uncertain at first, he grew more certain of his answer once he had spoken it aloud, and he nodded his head in satisfaction.

"...."

" Is trust the only thing that a companion needs?" Glia questioned vaguely.

Rumius replied:" I don't think so…" 

" It's hard to explain but…when it comes to being companions, there is a certain level of depth and …comfort from being with them. It's like a bond. The stronger the bond is, the more it resonates with you. Being around your companions would give you that feeling." 

" I think that is what a companion needs. It's a lot of things but you'll know when they have it." Rumius smiled and said. A warm fuzzy feeling spread in his chest as he talked about the subject. It was a feeling that he could associate with a special cluster of memories, although they were no more than a mass of blur feelings now. 

" So it's like a mark." 

Rumius wasn't sure, but he felt that was close enough so he nodded his head. 

" It's like a mark…" she repeated. A small tremble crept into her voice, conjuring a mix emotions that Rumius couldn't quite put his finger on as she said the words. Disappointment. Fury. Sorrow. 

" …Yeah." Rumius agreed uncertainly. Is eyes darted to her as he felt the air charge with tension.

The silence between them stretched for a long time, leaving the chatter of night life the only thing that Rumius could hear and suddenly, a chill made Rumius wish that he had let Glia chatter on instead of stopping her. 

' Shit. Did I say something wrong?' He gulped as he shuffled his feet closer to Glia. Gently, he touched her arm. 

Rumius didn't expect to see Glia fall so uncharacteristically silent. Her talkativeness from earlier was nowhere to be seen once she heard his answer. 

" Glia? Are you o-" Rumius suddenly stepped back in shock.