My Civilian Goddess

Chapter 8: Take the first step

Eli did not leave Lilly's room for the rest of that night. Nor until late in the morning either. He managed to pull the blankets over both of them, but after Lilly had stopped apologizing, she buried her face into Eli's chest and refused to lessen the grip of her arms around his body. By the time she fell asleep and let go a little bit Eli was so tired and comfortable, as Lilly felt soft and warm, he didn't bother moving and slept with Lilly in her bed.

When Eli woke up, the sun had already peered its way through the windows, which curtains were crumpled up to the sides, not blocking a lot of the light. Lilly would have to fix them later. Speaking of, she was still fast asleep, drooling slightly on Eli's chest. Though he couldn't imagine he was that comfortable to lay on right now, with his fairly skinny body.

Something inside Eli sparked as he looked upon her. He wasn't sure what it was, as he could only see her face. He patted her head for a good hour before she finally woke up. She was quite embarrassed and got off Eli as quickly as she could grasp the situation, apologizing again. Sensing that she wanted to be alone for a bit, Eli left her alone in her room.

The living room and Eli's own room had gone back to normal. Nothing he could see, at the very least, had been different from the day prior.

Disgruntled, he made himself some breakfast and slumped away in front of the TV. After his meal, he recalled the many game consoles they had now, and tried one of them out. He'd never owned any of them, but growing up with the internet and YouTube he's seen plenty of let's-plays and speed-runs of most games he found interesting. Being able to play them now... It felt nice. As much as he hates the invasion into his life by Lilly, she could indeed take care of him in some way.

Speaking of Lilly, it had been a good while now since she locked herself into her room. It was approaching the later hours of the day, so Eli knocked on her door.

"Come out to eat," he said calmly. "You haven't eaten all day."

He waited for a minute or so, just to receive no response besides some small noises he couldn't place. Regardless, Eli started to make lunch for the both of them. Some toasted bread with cheese and ham could never hurt. Humming a song from a show he saw recently, Eli cooked the food in a pan, which was quite warm. He opened a window in the living room to get a breeze in, which made the curtains slowly twirl back and forth. Then he rushed back before he burned one of the sandwiches.

Finishing up, Eli put the plates on the kitchen island, which had two bar stools standing next to it. He then went towards Lilly's door again, knocking once more.

No response.

"The food is gonna get cold," he called again. It made no difference. Disgruntled as he was, Eli didn't agree with it.

"I'm coming in," he said, grasping the handle of the door and slowly pushing it open.

Lilly's room was the same as it had been that morning. Lilly herself was wrapped up in her own blanket, staring out of the window.

"C'mon," Eli said again. "Our food will get cold."

"I don't need to eat," Lilly mumbled, almost whispering.

Eli laughed, though it was at best a fake laugh. "Humans do, c'mon!"

He took her hand and guided her to the living room. She didn't put up any resistance, but she kept her blankets with her. Eli sat her down on one of the bar stools. The wind blew through her hair, making it pop out of the blankets, slightly.

"Want anything to drink?"

Lilly shook her head as Eli poured himself some soda.

"Start eating then."

She didn't. She stared at the sandwich. Even after Eli started eating. Even when he finished and washed his own plate. But Eli tried to keep calm. He kept humming the same song as before.

"Why?" Lilly asked finally, as Eli put his plate back into one of the drawers.

"Why what?"

"Why did you make food for me? I don't need it to survive."

"I've seen you eat. I know you enjoy it. You chowed down on that pizza two nights ago."

"But-"

"And humans do need to eat. So I made you some food."

"But I'm not-"

"We agreed you would live like a human from now on, didn't we? I don't care about any of that scary inner shadow goddess stuff that happened yesterday for now. We'll discuss it some other day. But right now, you're a human! So eat your damn food, Lilly. And I don't want to hear any buts anymore."

Maybe I was too hard on her, Eli thought to himself as he continued cleaning the kitchen. He felt guilty, almost. Yet little would he know that behind him, Lilly was enjoying a tear-stained sandwich.