Wordlessly, the little girl blinked. Between the yelling and the laughing this was the first genuine pause in their conversation.

Was she not expecting him to answer so soon?

—Or maybe just not at all?

“Eh-? I mean, uh, really? I mean! Of course, really! After all, I totally saved your life, and—”

“You don’t need to justify or defend yourself. You want help, right? There’s nothing wrong with that. I want to. There’s nothing wrong with that either, is there?”

“So you’ll be my obedient dog??”

“Sure.”

“And follow my every command??”

“If that’s what you want.”

She paused, contemplating his response. From the sweat on her forehead, it’s clear enough she wasn’t expecting that response. In fact, almost no one would accept such an outrageous demand. But Cobalt was far from normal.

He had reasons for this answer. Many reasons, actually, but the smartest choice came down to this girl’s abrasive personality itself. With Irvelle, his cunning smile hid levels and levels of deception and psychopathy, and with that demon, that deception was put forth upfront. However, with this girl, he knew exactly what to expect.

He didn’t want to be paranoid anymore. And with a girl such as this, he wouldn’t ever have to be. Her flaws were practically displayed in a glass box, so he wouldn’t have to dig for them in a fit of distrust and paranoia. 

If he could overcome her abrasive personality, the rest would neatly fall in place.

But to the girl, his strange candid response didn’t click in the same way.

“What the hell are you, some kinda masochist?! Who says something so creepy like that?!”

“Wh-what?! Who the hell offers something like that?! Do you just like hearing yourself talk, or what, you nutcase?!”

“Of course I do! Did you hit your head or something?! You make it sound like you wanna lick my boots!”

“Actually, I did hit my head! This half-wit blindly flew at me like a child! I’m just fine having that be the only time your boots are ever near me! That hurt, damnit!”

This was without a doubt the most interesting and, almost fun, encounter he’s had in six months or so.

And after a second or two of silence, he burst into unison laughter with her. Hearing that laughter in stereo reassured him a little. Maybe this crazed girl feels the exact same way, even if she’d sooner die than admit that.

She stood up, showing a genuine smile which reflected the rising sun ahead of her. “Since you’re my slave now, erm, I mean partner, we should probably exchange names, huh?”

“Real subtle with that jab, y’know.”

“Subtlety’s my specialty of course.”

That was a cruel irony, but he hoped it was intentional.

She sighed, before slapping her hand to her hip as she leaned to the side. “How about I go first then, my little pet?”

He raised his eyebrow subtly as he gave a slight nod.

Compiling what seemed like a bunch of feelings at once, she took a step back, cocking her head to the side as she pounded a thumb against her chest.

All of it seemed like a bold attempt to make a memorable entrance, or a big reveal of some kind. But while that was true in her mind, to Cobalt it just looked like a middle schooler’s attempt to look cool.

“You probably already had the passing thought, but to put your mind at ease… You’re looking at the Arabelle, in the flesh.”

But as all of that energy fell towards Cobalt…

“Just Arabelle?”

Just like that, she went silent.

“Erhhmmmmmm…” with that hesitation, she seemed to be deliberating something to herself. 

And her momentum slid down an entirely different track almost instantly.

Noticing this hesitation, he followed, “What?”

Just as suddenly as she prepared that “surprise” entrance, it was shot down,

“Uhhhhh, nothing. Surnames aren’t tha-at important anyway, so you shouldn’t need to know mine.”

This response was definitely unexpected to Cobalt.

She just made a big show out of her introduction, and just at the last second decided to go back on it.

He wasn’t sure why someone would want to hide their last name, but he resigned to it, not wanting to pry.

“In that case… My name’s Cobalt. Cobalt Aspire.”

After his greeting, he felt taken aback for a moment. He had introduced himself twice within the last half hour, but something about this introduction felt different. Did he forget something last time?

Oh well. He was probably just tired. His memory wasn’t the best by default, let alone after the night he had.

“Aspire… Like aspiration?”

“Uh… Yeah, I guess so.”

She snorted a short chuckle again, however this time without the mutual laugh.

“What’s that for?!”

“Pffft that sounds so cheesy! My surname’s practically perfect compared to that!”

“It’s not like I came up with it, myself! What kind of a name is Arabelle anyway? With that name and clothes, you look like the splitting image of a doll in a display case. If it weren’t for your angry, shrill voice—hell, I might have even mistaken you as one.”

“Hey, that’s a low blow! What makes you think I don’t want to look like a doll? It makes it easier to ambush people when you don’t look like a threat, or something like that, right?”

Surprisingly, she didn’t seem to take that much offense to his retort. Nonetheless, he brought it back in, in the closest thing to an apology she would get.

“All jokes aside though, Arabelle… I like that name. It suits you pretty well,” he followed that up with a cheeky smile, however, having a better read on the atmosphere, he might have been able to see that as the fatal flaw it was.

A blush festered across her freckled face, which twisted into something between anger and disgust. She shook her head dramatically, before stomping on his toes with all of her weight.

“Don’t force yourself to suck up to me! I’m not gonna fall for that crap, got it?!”

Arabelle’s heel dug in, twisting his toes against her imprudence.

“Ow—what the hell?! I was being genuine! I swear!”

“Ew, that’s even worse!!!”

Her repulsed scream sent a flock of birds flying from their roost into the morning air, flipping the scene once more towards the mostly blue sky.

This girl, Arabelle, was abrasive, impulsive, and had her entire small body filled from head to toe with unreserved fury. But despite all of that, something about her to Cobalt represented hope.

He had nowhere to go, but suddenly appearing in his life, this doll-like angel with wings of thorns had given him a brand new opportunity. And albeit just as rash as Arabelle herself, Cobalt would certainly seize that opportunity. In the name of meaninglessness itself, he committed himself to sharing in that meaninglessness with her.

And to Arabelle, perhaps Cobalt represented something similar.

Or, just maybe… Cobalt really did just represent a leashed dog. A frothing mutt.

* * * * * * * *

The sun had risen itself high enough to be seen over the mountaintops, but as he passed under the twisting groves and tangling thickets, it hid behind the lush orange valley he now found himself in.

The cabin hiding itself neatly in the prolific valley was rustic, coated in moss and vines, and falling apart at the seams. The porch was constructed out of wilted wooden planks, which ran black in some places from sheer age. At the very least, the door was intact, but the same couldn’t be said for the roof… It was coated in patches made from leaves, planks, and dead wood, but even those patches didn’t cover every hole seeping through it.

As she swung the door open proudly, trace rays of light shone themselves down to the creaky wooden floor from the ceiling, and dust hovered around the two of them.

Arabelle had “cleverly disguised” her base of operations in a remote, unapproachable section of the mountains, but Cobalt saw through that cover-up for what it really was: she just couldn’t be bothered to fix anything.

She walked towards a room and did a short spin to face him while opening the bedroom door behind her. She seemed proud, somehow, and added, “Welcome to my humble abode.”

“Emphasis on humble,” he teased in a low voice, picking at what looked like spider webs on his sleeve.

But when he saw her bedroom, his impression changed.

The room was fairly large, with one medium sized bed, a couple open windows, black curtains, surprisingly no noticeable holes in the ceiling, and maybe 5 or 6 full bookshelves. He had a dying question he needed to ask, so without hesitation, he shot:

“Are those magic books, by chance?”

Cobalt was, for lack of better words, a loser. No—scratch that, there couldn’t possibly be a better word to describe them. He had played dozens of games in DIVE with Bismuth, and among them, the ranges for magic systems were endless.

Magic circles, special gifts, magic tomes, urban fantasy, from his eyes, the realm of magic and sorcery was practically endless. If the books she had were magic, although a pretty big stretch, why shouldn’t he seize that opportunity to learn some spells? Better protect himself?

She grinned, “Interested, huh? Well, if my dog serves me loyally, it might just get to read some.”

He wouldn’t let that snobby attitude deter him. If she wasn’t just pulling his leg, and those books really were magic, he was going to read virtually every one of them.

“After the night you’ve had, you probably want some sleep, right?”

He nodded as she put her weight on one foot, leaning to the side slightly.

“Great, you can take the floor.”

“We can’t share the b—?”

“No we can’t.”

He frowned. Eyeing the rustic floor, he wondered if a massive spider would come and drag him through the floorboards in his sleep. It was pretty dusty, but in a swift motion, a lot of that dust was kicked up, and then his vision went black.

“You can use that blanket, but it shouldn’t be too cold,” she said as an afterthought, throwing it over him.

“Is it just me or do you kind of seem like a mom right n—”

“Watch your tongue or you’ll wake up in a tree.”

If the blanket weren’t over his head, she would have made fun of the dumb smile he wore after that remark. But he resigned himself to her surprisingly caring nature, and decided that was enough teasing for one day. Albeit a shock, he wasn’t exactly put-off by seeing her nice side. 

He took her blanket off from out in front of his face, and eyed the open windows. “Isn’t it too bright to sleep?”

“Aha! Glad you asked!” With a look of pride, she pulled some kind of drawstring attached to the suspended curtains, throwing them both casually over the windows, casting the entire room into almost complete darkness. “Black-out curtains! Pretty cool, right?”

He could barely even see Arabelle standing just two meters in front of him.

Under his breath, he added, “You’re even more of a hermit than I am…”

“Goodnight weirdo!” she pretended not to hear him. “We’ll wake up in the afternoon and go back to the Tomb.”

“Wait, really?!” he wasn't sure what to make of that. He was intrigued, yes, but returning so soon? He wasn’t sure he was prepared to go back there already.

“Yes, really. Didn’t I tell you that you made me botch my last mission? Okay well—not really botch. More like you got me so distracted that I need time to rethink the plan. Also I’m too tired to realistically do what I wanted to do now, so I’d rather blame it on you being too tired to be actually useful.”

Ah. so that’s what she meant.

“Sooo—Consider this an investment? Maybe you’re good for something after all, my little pet?”

He sat onto the ground with a sigh, wrapping himself up in her soft blanket. He ignored her jabs, really just seeking some peaceful sleep for a change. For at least right now, that would be his purpose: finding sleep.

“Oh and by the way… If you crawl in my bed I’ll cook you into stew.”

He held back a chuckle, and sardonically replied, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

This whole time, he had gotten little to no sleep in this world. He’d been picked on, cast aside, betrayed, and outright tortured by the freaks of this new world, and having abandoned his own, there wouldn’t have been anywhere at all to go if he messed things up badly enough in this one, too. It was a bit slow, and ultimately meaningless. But truthfully, he didn’t care what was and wasn’t meaningless. Because after all, nothing really had meaning anyway. At least not to Cobalt. He wasn’t sure if anything would again, but he decided to not let that bother him. Because at this very moment, there was only one thing at all worth worrying about…

I have no idea if I can sleep with the sound of her snoring…