The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 28: Redolence of Longing

It had been two months since he'd awoken. The Hotel was dreadfully quiet now, and the stuffy atmosphere was dull as dishwater.

Charlie hadn't sung at all -though to be fair, he seldom saw her anymore. If she did sing, he didn't hear it.

He'd not danced with her either. Though he might be the sort opposed to uninitiated contact on his person, it occurred to him that their interactions usually involved contact of some kind. A hand around the shoulder or on the upper back, perhaps pulling at an elbow if more pressing attention was needed.

It was a conscious effort not to touch her, to keep the respectable distance that she had indicated she desired. She had her concerns about appearances, after all.

It was a change, certainly. Back to normal, or what should have always been normal.

Their meetings in the managers' office were brief, touching upon matters best suited to face-to-face interaction. Much of his work he moved to his radio tower, working there while Charlie supervised day-to-day interactions with Vagatha, who had taken over more of the daily management of the facility.

The moth demoness had a room near their old office now to serve as her own workplace, and had declined the offer to have him set it up on her behalf, not wanting him to magick her anything. Cherri Bomb and Angel Dust had helped her bring in office furniture, and Charlie had helped her decorate the office, so his presence wasn't required.

He saw Vagatha even less than Charlie, the demoness still wary of him. Not that he particularly cared about her feelings, but it was rather insulting that she still treated him with a cool temper after all this time, as though expecting him to destroy everything she held dear.

He'd had every opportunity to, and it still hadn't happened.

The Hotel was still largely empty, which could hardly be considered his fault. He gave his options for spreading their message, and even used his tower to advertise it when requested.

And she still had her relationship with the princess. Why, the ladies were practically attached at the hip!

And that was fine.

It didn't bother him at all! He was glad for the distance, despite his shadow's rumbling.

Knowing those simmering wants were crackling just under the surface of their professional facades changed the game entirely.

He desperately wanted to be as far from those thoughts as possible. Time apart would let them cool - let his heart become cold again, how it used to be.

If this place wasn't technically his territory he would have wandered to the outer wilds of Pride to enjoy some peace from those feelings, but he knew something or someone would just call for his presence here again. And besides that, his own pride wouldn't let him simply abandon this place - it would be like running, and he ran from nothing.

So he was forced to linger here, patently ignoring the flittering in his thoughts when he heard the blonde demoness' voice, or when he caught the scent of jasmine and charcoal.

The painted sunsets in his study were carefully muted reds now, more evocative of Hell's own twilight, and less like golden hair.

The most he saw of the princess anymore was during her studies, which had stalled significantly. It had been a full two months of her dancing around actually casting Reversal - eight weeks of lessons that could barely be called lessons. They would last for about half an hour, while his apprentice consulted his grimoire and made notes in her own. She asked questions about his particular work with the rune, but only as little as needed to understand its principles.