022 - From the ashes

Daemon stopped his observations and gave Cynthia a faint look. When he had saved her months ago, he had just come back to the city without having changed his clothes, only without weapons on him.

This made him reach a conclusion. Cynthia had not taken a good look at him when he had saved her. If she had noticed the bulletproof vest he had been wearing, she would not have asked that question. After all, what kind of computer expert would walk around in that kind of gear?

But then again, that was normal. In stressful situations, normal people would be stressed.

"Not really."

Cynthia had other questions to ask, but feeling Daemon's lack of enthusiasm about the subject, she stopped herself. At that moment, the clerk also came back with two laptops in his hands. Another staff member followed with three others laptops that they placed on the table in front of them.

Afterward, the clerk started presenting the different models:

"Sir, these five are the ones with the highest specifications in our store. They have different advantages. For example, this one," he pointed at one that was a little punk in style, "it is best for playing games, with the best graphic configuration among the five. Of course, it can also be used for serious work. The hard drive has a capacity of two terabytes, and if you are not satisfied with it, we have drives with larger capacity you could buy in our store. The RAM…"

Daemon frowned at the long discourse:

"Get straight to the point with the specs of each of the products."

The clerk understood that he had started to annoy the customer who looked like he wanted to make a choice by himself. He smiled and changed his approach:

"As you wish, sir. This one has 32 Gb of RAM, a drive of 5 Tb…"

At the side, Cynthia filtered everything that was being said. She only kept looking at the uncovered side of Daemon's face. The latter looked serious as he listened and observed the laptops.

She only snapped out of it when he stood up with one of the laptops in hand, saying:

" I will take this one."

The salesman, with a brighter smile, asked:

"Then would you be paying by card or transfer, sir?"

Cynthia looked at the price tag and was stunned. Judging by the hotel where Daemon was staying at, and the clothes he had been wearing, he didn't seem well-to-do.

"Let me…"

She was about to propose her help when he replied to the salesman:

"Card."

After he was done, he left with her still following. He spent some more for a purchase at a stationery store before stopping at a restaurant.

As it was Saturday, it had many of its seats occupied. But they managed to find one where they could sit.

"Order what you want. It's on me today."

After saying that, Daemon called for the waiter and got a chocolate milkshake that was not too sweet nor too cold for himself.

After Cynthia got herself a cup of coffee, he looked at her with a questioning look. When he saw her still not talking, he asked at last:

"You wanted to see me. Is something the matter?"

"Are you avoiding me? Did I do something I shouldn't have?"

Daemon was taken aback. If the look in her eyes were like five times more intense, she would have been confused for a wronged girlfriend.

"I already told you, I am busy."

"I don't believe that you are busy 24/7. Even one small minute would have been enough to make good on your promise of calling me."

He didn't remember promising to do so, at most casually agreeing. But he knew that he was up against a woman, so he shouldn't push the debate to that side.

Seeing him silent, the expression on Cynthia's face intensified:

"So I did something bad and you are avoiding me?"

Daemon forced himself to suppress a sigh:

"It's not your fault. It's true that I'm busy, and I also don't have the mind to engage in social activities."

"Why is that? Have you still not recovered?"

He looked at the rest of the mall through the window. The couples passing by, the store's clerks trying to pick the interest of people, and the joy that seemed to linger in the hearts around beneath the pressure of life.

"Let's say that I've been thinking about how to live my life now that I'm back."

"Does that mean that you will be staying? Will you settle down and create a family?"

The leap in thought made Daemon turn to her. Behind the curiosity in her eyes, only Cynthia would know if the expectation she was feeling for the answer was because of her father, or herself.

"Like I said, I still don't know."

"Oh."

Cynthia's expression returned to normal. She looked at her mostly untouched cup in thought, before raising her head:

"Since you are having trouble finding an answer, let me help you take your mind away from the problem."

He looked at her in silence with the straw of his drink in his mouth, but he didn't hide his nascent interest.

"Come."

She abandoned her cup of coffee and pulled him to the elevator. They soon arrived at the entertainment area.

"You look like someone who would not like outdoor activities with even more people around, so we can only play here to relax."

Daemon looked at the area, at the games and the people enjoying themselves. Their smiles felt a little foreign to him.

He was an orphan, having grown up in an orphanage. He didn't have the heart, nor the leisure to enjoy himself. And in the army, he could be said to have had even less of a heart, or the leisure to enjoy himself.

Not with his duties, much less with a heart he was trying to numb after the first two years when he initiated the breakup.

The only reason to have ever made him feel the emotions which were causing those smiles in his life had been Evelyn.

Cynthia pulled him over to the different games. She had a smile on her face, and he did try to indulge her. Each win made her more happy when he abandoned the prizes to her. But each time she turned around to pull him to another area, he was failing at keeping his attention on the blond hair in front of him. He was only seeing the brown hair that had been in front of him when he was being pulled out of his loneliness by the soft hands of the gentle soul he had hurt. That period had been the most vibrant one of his life.