Gluttony and Greed Walk into a Burger Joint

Chapter 5 - The Walk Home

 Reaching forward, Dani wrapped her fingers around Alus's palm, and the demon felt a jolt—though not an unpleasant one. His soul-sight took over while he stared at their hands. A rampant radiance fluctuated beneath the skin, fluctuating and overwhelming under every physical part of her. She shined, as Runeak said. 

Alus's hand, just as his siblings', had no glow.

It blinded him in an instant. Alus shut his eyes in a tight blink to readjust his second sight, putting it aside. Dani's soul hadn't caused the jolt, but touching her brought about a similar feeling to when he harvested. She wasn't his, though—hadn't given herself or declared herself to him. Her soul was firmly anchored to her body. 

Alus felt oddly comfortable with it staying there.

If Dani noticed Alus's strange behavior, she avoided saying anything as she tugged on the demon's arm to lead him down the street, noting, "Your skin feels really warm. You doing okay?"

"I run hot." It was an automatic response from Alus's lips, usually meant as a joking double entendre. This time, no teasing existed in the words. Even so, Dani turned her face to him and smirked, though she didn't remark on it.

"Tell me about the purple shirt." The young lady looked forward once more, and Alus felt his heart jump when she adjusted her hand to hold his tighter, lacing her fingers through his.

"A mixture of blue and red, if I'm not mistaken."

"Absolutely. What I'm wondering is what it has to do with your eyes."

"When I wear a shirt this color, people can't tell Arek and I apart." When Dani didn't respond, Alus turned at the neck to see her smiling at him like she knew something he didn't. "What?"

The smile grew a fraction. "You. Forming whole sentences."

Alus opened his mouth to answer her then closed it, stumped.

She waved her free hand away. "Forget I said anything. Please, explain the shirt."

Clearing his throat, Alus blinked and looked forward once more. It took him a moment, but when the words came, they did so with relative ease. "Arek's eyes are always the color of my shirt I'm wearing today. My eyes are the color of whatever shirt I put on."

"No, your eyes are gray."

Alus couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice. "No one notices that."

"Last I checked, my name was 'Dani', not 'No One'."

"Very clever."

"Four younger brothers."

"They keep you on your toes?"

"Something like that." Dani's voice faded to something more subdued, the smile gone from it.

They walked in silence for the next block, though it felt less comfortable this time. Alus wracked his brain for something more to say or ask. "How far away do you live?"

The question sounded forced, but Dani let out a breath with what he could only guess to be relief. "About a mile from my job. Six more blocks. Two down, then we turn left and go four more."

"You live on your own?"

For whatever reason, the question made Dani huff, but not like she found it funny. "Remember those four brothers?"

"You all live with your parents? Aren't you a little old for that?" Alus at last put some of his old teasing into the inquiry, and for a moment, he hoped he had a chance to act normal around her.

Dani's hard and frozen silence put him back on uneven ground. He risked a glance to her face—her lips set in a hard line. She kept her gaze averted, and her hand loosed around Alus's.

"Hey." Wrapping his hand tighter around hers, the demon flexed and pulled. The motion forced Dani to stop, turn, and face him. 

Alus stood six inches taller than her, and he appreciated it for the first time when his hand went up, seemingly on its own volition. Before he could second guess himself, Alus curled his palm at the side of her downturned face, thumb on her cheekbone. 

The feel of her tear as it touched his thumb surprised him, though not because of its presence. It made his chest squeeze uncomfortably in a way he'd rarely experienced in his long life. When she shook her head and pulled away, Alus's heart hammered loud enough in his chest, he wondered if she could hear it. Dani shrugged out of his grasp, and Alus's throat ran dry.

"I can't. Sorry." Alus almost didn't hear Dani's whisper as she took another step back from him.

He couldn't speak a word when she turned around. He couldn't bring himself to utter her name when she started to run.

Dani made it a half-block before slowing to a stop and turning partway, indecisive. She shook her head with a harsh jerk and wrapped her arms tightly around her middle, fingers digging into the material at her waist. 

Alus's tongue had fused to the roof of his mouth again. 

Then she turned his way again. 

The demon's throat constricted, and it was all Alus could do to watch as she ran back his way. His eyesight shifted briefly into soul-sight, and every part of her radiated a brilliant and luminescent white. Her eyes may as well have been screaming white stars that dripped more pieces of her soul down her cheeks. Dani's tears shined brightest of all, and Alus felt the intense urge to taste them on his tongue. 

He shut down his other-sight as she closed the distance between their bodies, close enough to touch. In the span of that blink, her hands pressed on his forearms, her momentum carrying her up until suddenly, shockingly, her lips were on his.

What could he do but catch her to keep them both from falling over? And what choice did he have but to return her kiss as best as his befuddled mind could handle?

Alus's hands went to her waist, one foot sliding back to steady the two of them.

Dani kept the kiss short and amazingly soft despite how she'd run. Her fingers squeezed his arms at the elbows. When she closed the kiss, she did so with the greatest care. Dani's mouth brushed once more to his lower lip, then the waitress bowed her head, nudging her brow to his chin. "I'll see you tomorrow, Alus."

Squeezing once more before letting go, Dani turned and ran again. This time she didn't look back. 

This time, Alus watched her round a corner until she was out of sight.

Only then did the demon let out a long, puzzled exhale. "What in the Hells just happened?" 

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