the halfling wallows in self pity too

The stupid waitress showed up late. For the meantime, her boss, a middle-aged man with a bafflingly muscular physique, served tables on his own. The other employee was nowhere to be seen.

Lev smelled before he saw her—her blood, to be precise. If left untreated, the wound on her finger would get infected. She'd bandaged it without even... cleaning it... or something. Anything. And she went around serving food like that? No wonder everyone here was so stupid. Bacteria fried their brains. Their asinine chatter destroyed what was left.

By the time the waitress showed up to his table, Lev's blood boiled enough to kill microorganisms. "You," he said, and she actually grimaced when she saw him. "Clean your fucking hands, holy shit."

The waitress scowled at him. "I'm sorry?"

"It's not disinfected."

Against her best interest, she curled her bandaged hand. "I appreciate your concern, but our establishment has rigorous hygiene standards. Also, that language is not polite. Have you chosen what to drink?"

"I was just trying to be nice," Lev replied, then realized it was futile. "Never mind. A chocolate milkshake is fine. You can get one for yourself as well. I'll pay."

"Is that so? I will be unavailable until break."

"Then I'll wait."

No one else seemed to care. Infected blood was how lycanthropy had become a plague in the north. Granted, it was now under control, and werewolves had all sorts of support to keep their... urges... in check, but sometimes all it took was a careless mistake.

The waitress had traces of demonic magic all over her her. She'd probably commuted with the demon lord again. When, at last, she took her break, she prepared a grapefruit smoothie for herself instead. It was revolting. The waitress sat with Lev, then asked "How can I help you?"

Lev had to look away from the grapefruit smoothie to preserve his sanity. "Let's continue where we left off. I can tell you interacted with the demon lord again. Can you tell me more about this?"

"Uhh... sure?" The waitress took a sip from her smoothie. Grapefruits should never have been invented. "I got hired as his maid. That's about it."

"Have you reconsidered my request?"

"Capturing him? Yeah, no."

He had to be nice. He had to be nice. "And why not? Don't you realize how important this is?"

"What could I possibly do?" She asked. "I feel like you're all making fun of me sometimes. No one's gonna join your thingy, kid. I'm sorry, but, one, that reward is pathetic and, two, everyone is scared of Sionn. I get why, but still. It's not like he chose to get the black eye thing, and like I get he's huge but demons in general are taller than humans and his sense of humor takes a bit of getting used to but he's not bad bad really he gave me a gift basket and a ribbon look." She took out a pink ribbon from her pocket. 

Lev took his time to process all of... that. "So you get along with him?"

She glanced at her bandaged hand, which wasn't a good sign. "I wouldn't say that, just that he's not that bad. I think you could just... talk...? Instead of trying to capture him."

"Right. Talk. Would you help with that or no?"

"If you ask nicely."

Hadn't he been nice all this while? Lev ran a hand down his face. This was as close as he'd probably get to fulfilling his plan, though. He also had to ask her about Demonsbane and whatever the fuck had happened after the demon invited him to his castle, but that could wait. Hanan wouldn't lose to some nobody demon who gave gift baskets to his employees, although... if Hanan—Demonslayer, whatever—was known for killing each and every single one of his targets, why was the demon lord still alive? 

Anyway. "Would you please help me set up a meeting between the demon lord and I?" Asked Lev. 

"Nope."

He gripped the table so hard that that he cracked it. Thankfully, a customer called out for her as this happened, so she didn't notice. Maybe. Lev let go of the table immediately. "And why not?"

When the waitress turned back to him, she snorted. "Kidding. Gimme a time and place and I'll ask. What do I tell him, though? And what's your name?"

"Lev. Tell him I can help him break the curse. What yours?"

"Reem."

"Nice. So tell him that. Same time, same place. Surely, he's not so weak that sunlight could kill him."

Reem shook her head.

"Great. The other thing is... what happened after the demon kidnapped you? I know he challenged Hanan to a duel at his castle. Then what? Why are they both still alive?"

"Uhhh..."

"What?"

She shrugged.

Lev almost cracked the table again. "Just tell me. You were there. I know Demonslayer is alive. So how come your demon survived?"

"He's not my demon."

"Whatever."

"I dunno," she said. "I fainted. Hanan missed and hit me instead."

Which was when Lev realized he'd just called Demonsbane by name. Out loud. He felt light-headed all of a sudden. "That's... don't call him that again. I messed up. That's the name of my brother. They just really look alike and stuff." He swallowed. "Just don't call him that. Please."

"I won't, I won't. It's not like I know the guy, anyway."

"Reeeem!" Called out the boss. "You've been there for half an hour now!"

Reem scrambled up so fast that she almost dropped the empty glass before her. "Sorry!" She then turned back to Lev. "I'll tell Sionn what you said bye."

Which was when he realized her lie was even worse than his. Hanan... missing? And hitting a civilian? But he was too shaken by his faux-pas earlier to tell her to return. 

Things did not add up. Either Sionn or Demonslayer should've lived. Demonslayer would never, ever let a target go. Hanan would have, but that was back when he was still himself. 

Demonslayer felt nothing and was nothing. He lived to kill. He had no ambitions, no loved ones, no weaknesses. 

Then...

...wait, hadn't those three been there as well?

***

"Sinon and Lenna're busy," was Mahieu's greeting once he reached Lev at the entrance to the commissary. "What's up, Lev? Why on Earth would you show up to this place? Ya have a death wish?"

"You guys lied to me," was Lev's response. The 'commissary' was a sad, pathetic remnant of the past. It was the only other castle left in Sun's Edge, along with the one the demon lord had seized. As if this wasn't stupid enough, those who dwelled, trained, and died in it referred to themselves as 'knights'. "You guys saw Demonslayer and didn't tell me. Assholes."

Mahieu groaned. "Nope. Not this. Not today."

"Yes today."

"Ask Lenna about it. Preferrably not in a place full of people who kill your kind."

"Half," Lev corrected. Mahieu waved him off. "Fine, just... tell me what happened. Demonslayer dueled the demon lord, right?"

"..uhh... I mean..." Mahieu rubbed his face with his hands. "Can this REALLY not wait until later?"

"Fuck you," Lev replied.

"No. I'm serious. I'm. I... I've been thinking about quitting."

It was Lev's turn to question time and place. He looked around, but it wasn't as though anyone else cared. Lost 'knights' were training at this time. Mahieu had slipped out of class precisely because someone had told him 'a friend' was waiting for him at the entrance, and he only had three, so. 

"I know you don't care, so I'll keep it short," Mahieu continued, umprompted. "To be honest, I only joined this 'cuz my parents told me to. I don't want to kill anyone."

"Knights protect," Lev replied, "Allegedly."

"Yeah. Allegedly. That's the thing. I just feel like we're trained to kill more than save anyone. Like with the demon lord. I didn't see much of what happened because we, uh. Ran away. But your brother showed up out of nowhere, shot the guy, and then the girl... saved the demon?"

Lev narrowed his eyes. "How?"

"She just..." Mahieu trailed off, gesturing with his hand. "Pshh. Like that. In front of the demon."

"Are you sure he didn't use her as a meat shield?"

"Pretty sure, yeah." Mahieu did that thing where he picked at the skin between his thumb and forefinger. "I didn't really want to shoot him, either. I'm kind of glad I missed."

That explained that. "Then quit," Lev told him.

Mahieu rolled his eyes. "Sorry to bother you."

"I mean it."

"Mhm."

"I do, though." But Mahieu had already turned around. "...fine, whatever. You guys are all useless anyway."

He regretted those words less than a minute after saying them, but by them, Mahieu had gone back to class, and Lev was prey in a den of predators.

With no home to go back to and nothing to do, as usual, Lev went to kill time at the library.