Celebration 2

The night after the battle against Charybdis was a hectic, if extremely merry.

Shortly after the battle concluded, everyone from the soldiers to the evacuated civilians rushed back into the city to party. Even if he wanted to, Rimuru doubted he could have slowed them down; which he didn't. And so the entire city of Tempest celebrated through the night. Everyone's stress and worries were suddenly gone and erupted in dancing, eating, drinking and various other activities. Someone had the crazy idea of taking the megalodons- literary flying sharks- and cooking them. He wasn't so sure, but he didn't stop anyone from doing it; thank goodness he didn't, because the giant sharks turned out to be quite delicious, especially with a good drink.

The streets were packed with people having a good time, and Rimuru, though he continued to pay close attention so that no one was going to far, managed to finally enjoy himself some. He was sat at a specially set table in the central square of the city, filled with all kinds of foods and delicacies, though most of them were't for him. He had decided to treat Milim to a well deserved feast and ordered the cooks to make her some rare specialties; and it wasn't just because she had done a fantastic job against Charybdis; as they were returning to the city, he was greeted by the leader of the dwarven pegasus knights who informed him they would not be staying to enjoy the festivities. Before leaving, however, the captain asked him about the weapon they had used to one shot Charybdis. Rimuru pondered whether to tell him some made up nonsense, but decided against it and told him the truth, that Demon Lord Milim, who was right next to him, had taken the beast out.

He instantly regretted that decision. The man laughed at the idea of a 'little girl' being the dreaded Destroyer, completely ignorant of the murderous aura Milim sending his way. Then he just dismissed the issue, saying he can keep his secrets, then flew off. Calming Milim down from flying after them and slaughtering them to a man was, thankfully, easily done with the promise of food.

So here he was, staying at the table next to Milim who was scarfing down food at what would be an alarming rate for anyone else, but was actually pretty slow for her. He shook his head and smiled at her antics, then looked around to the festivities.

Shion was somewhere in the corner, face red from way to much alcohol; she was swinging around wildly, possibly an attempt to dance, as Shuna was trying hard to calm her down as an amused Benimaru was looking on.

Geld and Gabiru and some of their men had settled in a circle and were busy talking about the battle, laughing at each others's blunders. It was Gabiru's turn to be mocked by the looks of things, though he seemed to be laughing the most at it.

Hakuro, Gobta and the human adventurers were also in their own little group, chatting away; Fuze especially was looking like he had to much and if he didn't knew better was picking a fight with a similarly drunk Kabal. Gobta seemed to be edging it on but was quickly calmed with just a glance from Hakuro. Looked liken he would be in for it tomorrow.

In yet another corner, Kaijin, Vesta and the other dwarves were going over and gushing over one of Charybdis' scales they had recovered (hundreds more were scattered though the forest). According to Kaijin, the things extremely durable and hard, yet also flexible; in terms of quality, not far below something made out of medium-grade magisteel. Nothing like what his high-grade magisteel could make, but still would be a useful resource once they were all gathered up, at least according to Kaijin; Rimuru had toned his explanation out halfway through and excused himself, and a good thing too because it didn't look like the five's conversation had slowed down at all in hours.

-'heh'

-'Hey Rimuru' he turned to the sound of Milim's voice, who had stopped eating and was looking at him curiously; she was wearing a simple black blouse and white skirt 'did you say something?' she asked. He didn't realized he 'heh'd aloud.

-'Ah, no, nothing.' he quickly dismissed 'I was just really glad to see everyone having a great time.' he said as he gazed over the merrymaking people.

-'Yeah, this sure is a lively party!' Milim exclaimed as she gulped down another drink; though at first Rimuru wanted to slap it out of her hand, he quickly stopped himself. For one, this world did not have anything like a 'legal drinking age'. Most nations simply let it up to their parents. Second, even if there was one, he realized Milim- somewhat childish personality aside- is so much older it was almost hilarious. And thirdly, as Great Sage had informed him, Milim had Poison Resistance so high she could quite literary drink their entire city's supply of alcohol and not feel a single tingle from it. So he didn't bother stopping her; he figured she just enjoyed the new taste. But back to the present

-'Yeah, lively is one word. I known I said it before, but...thanks for the help today. We really were screwed without you.'

-'Ah, think nothing of it, I mean it!' she dismissed him again 'I'm a Demon Lord, its part of my job to do awesome things anyway! Wahahahaha!'

-'Right, right.' he said amused, shaking his head again 'But I really do mean it. Personally, I mean; this city and its people mean a lot to me.'

-'You said that before...'

-...'Yeah, I did. But, I don't think I ever realized it myself just how much I cared until earlier today, when I almost though we were out of options.' he said honestly 'So, for myself...' he flashed a smile and put a hand on her shoulder 'Thank you, Milim.'

Suddenly, Milim turned to look away from him. He though she looked to be...embarrassed? He wasn't sure why though.

Meanwhile, Milim was fuming with embarrassment; she almost though her heart would leap out of her chest when she saw Rimur smile at her like that. 'Uwaaaa!' she screamed internally 'This is getting seriously baaaad! Am I really doing this?! Is it really...?! Ah, calm down, calm down, calm down! I can do this...I can do...Anything! Yeah!'

'Ah, but...first...' she though as she managed to calm her mental storm somewhat, then turned to Rimuru who didn't seem to have noticed just how far gone she was. 'Than god for that...'

-'Rimuru?' she asked as gingerly as she could, drawing his attention; noticing she was in a weird mood, Rimuru turned his full attention on her

-'Yeah, what is it?' she fidgeted a little before she could continue

-'I was just wondering...would it be okay for me to come back here when I can?'

He didn't know why, but he could feel a slight wave of panic rush him as he heard that 'Why? Are you...leaving?' 'Is she leaving? Why so sudden?'

-'I mean, not right now!' she frantically waved her hands '...but a bit later, yeah. I...have a few stuff I kinda have to do, you know?' she said as she placed her hands on her knees 'Need to check up on my followers, for one...'

-'Followers?' he remembered hearing about how she didn't have any subordinates, but he guessed he heard wrong 'Are they worried about you or...'

-'No, nothing like that.' she dismissed 'They aren't worried about me. I'm the strongest Demon Lord, so they are too terrified of me to be 'worried' or anything.' she turned to cast a strange look at the partying people 'But I am their protector, so I kinda need to make an appearance once in a while. And other things...'

He wasn't sure what these 'other things' were, but he didn't presumed to guess. At another time, he would have dismissed them as meaningless nothings she entertained herself with, but he decided a while back to give her some benefit of the doubt. However...

-'Milim...' he drew her attention and made eye contact with her blue eyes 'You'll always be welcomed here. Anytime you want.' he told her with a smile. He was startled when she leaped forward, draping her hands around him and dragged him in a hug shouting 'Thanks!'. However, while he was happy she seemed to get whatever she had off her shoulders, he was royally panicking over something else

'Ahhhhh! Wha...no, stop hugging me!' he mentally anguished, but not because he hated it; the opposite in fact: it made him happy. So happy he started getting scared 'please just...have some mercy on this poor slime!' before he could say anything, Milim let him go of him very, very quickly and dashed out of sight. He could barley discern anything, but he did though he saw a tear or two. This time he didn't dismiss it.

It was early morning after the massive city-wide party, and the city was a mess. Dishes, empty tank, turned tables, drink stains and sleeping drunk monsters and a pile of sleeping drunk humans littered the city streets. The few who had abstained from wasting themselves the night before were now starting to rouse people up and forcing them to start participating in the clean-up. In Rimuru's experience from his previous life, cleaning up after a party was the worse job ever; cleaning up after monsters was worse. But he still regretted nothing.

What he did regret however was not running after Milim last night to see what was up with her. He followed her aura to her room with his magic sense, but decided against going there himself. For once, he didn't though it was a good idea to go into a girl's room just like that; second, he really didn't know how to sort out the weird feelings he now had around her or even when just thinking of her, especially after last night's hug. The warmth of it still made him zone out at times, wishing she didn't stop. So he stayed, continuing to keep an eye on the party; when Shuna came by later to ask where Milim was, he did't answer; for some reason the pink-haired ogress looked kind disappointed, a little mad even, before leaving with a exasperated sigh. At him. He wasn't sure why, but as the night progressed, he began to have a realization...

As he watched the people begin to clean up, he thought about his past life. He never had a girlfriend or even a one night stand, but more than than he realized he never met anyone who really made him interested in starting a relationship. In fact, the best he could say was that he had a crush or three in high school, but that was it. A crush on the popular girl in class hardly counted as 'interested'. At most it was teenage hormones going out of control, at worse a failure to even comprehend what 'liking someone' was; his crushes were, in his opinion, superficial. He sure as hell liked to see some big...assets...but that to was wholly superficial, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it. But thinking on it, he never really felt genuine attraction for a woman in his life. He didn't knew Shizu for more than a day, and he though there may have been something there, but that was long gone. Slipped away like water down a sink.

Thinking on that, he realized that...he liked her. He liked Milim. Immature, selfish, crazy powerful as she was, he still liked her. When he realized that, he didn't knew what to think at first 'Seriously? What's up with you, Rimuru, are you some kind of lolicon?!' he wanted to admonish himself; well, at least he could safely dismiss that though; he really liked 'big assets' so as far as he was concerned, this...attraction was not exactly physical, though he admitted she was very pretty. So he started thinking about what he liked about her. '

'She's genuine. All the time.' was one of the first things he though about 'If she says she likes you, there isn't any hidden meaning; she just likes you.'

'Immature as she is, she's pretty considerate' was another important thing he noticed 'Being as powerful as she is, there's no real reason she should ever humor anyone with anything, like me asking her to tone down her power, but she dose anyway.'

'She loves life.' he though with a fond smile at all the fun she had entertaining herself with the smallest things 'There's no end to how much she wants to experience everything...'

He though of a few other things, but those three were what really made him look at her in a different manner than he had before. He though about all the thinks he didn't like, trying to find a way to deny it, but ultimately...could not.

He did, in fact, like her.

'Ah crap, what do I do?' he thought as he paced back and forth in his office 'Do I tell her?' Would she even really understand, or even care? Would she be cheeped out?'

He could not make any decision that day, but he did decided one thing: even if he never told her, even if she hated him one day, he wanted to keep seeing her happy. He didn't know if she felt even remotely the same, but he didn't care; as long as he saw that smile that warmed his (non-existing) heart, he would be content.

In all her many hundreds of years of life, nothing came close to being as confusing and terrifying as the feelings she was having now. Nothing Milim had experienced- and she had experienced far too many things that she cared to remember properly- helped her make sense of it all. In theory, she understood; she had understood it quite well when they were at that table and Rimuru had send that charming smile her way; she hugged him, but quickly regretted it- it was even more impulsive than what she usually did and she feared Rimuru hated her for it. Even if she heard Rimuru say she was always welcomed in Tempest, that fear of being hated by him made her almost lose her mind.

She suspected, but that feeling she had when she hugged him convinced her; she was in love with Rimuru, and she had no idea what to do. What was she supposed to do next? She just could't come up with an answer that satisfied her. It hurt a lot just thinking about it, but the worse thing was that it made her so indecisive; she would usually make up her mind on something instantly, relying on her intuition to be right, which it usually was. This, however, failed her here; her intuition just wasn't telling her anything, and she wasn't sure why . She knew what the feelings she had meant- she had hear it from many fellow Demon Lords, or listen in on conversations of her followers, among a few other sources- but how would she apply that to herself in her current situation...she was at a loss there.

Not wanting to make a scene out of it, she ran from Rimuru as fast as she could, and was now held up in her guess room, hugging herself on the mattress, on the verge of crying

'Why did I do something like that?' she continually asked herself for hours 'Rimuru said he was my friend, but if I say how I really feel, he'll...he'll...' she almost could't even think of it, but 'make me leave' or 'say he actually hates me' were what she feared he would say. He seemed like he could't ever really hate anyone, but her fear just overwhelmed her anyway.

'There's no point.' she though dejectedly 'Rimuru won't like back someone like me, would he? Yeah, I bet he sees me like some dumb kid; I even look like some dumb kid. Why would he bother, when he has girls like Shuna and Shion to consider?' Not wanting to just make herself feel even worse by continuing to think about it like that, she considered just leaving right then and not looking back. Maybe, eventually, she'd just forget.

She got up and began looking around to all the cloths she had received in her short stay 'I should leave these; they'd only remind me...' and turned to leave, planing to jump out the window and fly away. However, a knock on the door stopped her. She considered not answering, but decided against it. She went and opened and...was met with Shuna. She was wearing a worried expression