It was night time, and Rædnael was back in his apartment, sitting on the single couch in the living room with his knees tucked close to his chest, translucent tail lightly swaying off the edge of the armrest. The disguise held up for surprisingly long, but at the cost of what little magical energy he had. He could feel that the longer it's been, the more he had to concentrate on keeping it intact so it won't start fading.

The night was still young, yet he felt tired as if he didn't sleep last night at all. But despite being as tired as he was, he couldn't bring himself to relax enough to get ready to sleep. He was fiddling with his new, human ID card, showing his disguise, human face in the picture, and signed under the human name Rodrick Quill. He then turned the card over to a piece of paper stuck to the back, with Lionel's number on it, which he had already input into his new phone, meant to be used for interactions with other humans until all the permits are in order, so the billing couldn't be traced back to him, or...something.

He just knew he had a separate form with one number on it. One that he desperately wanted to use, and at the same time not knowing if it was worth it.

"How could it possibly be the same person..." Rædnael murmured, shuddering at the memory of Lionel chasing him with such determination that he thought he might end up getting shot in the back. How could that have been the same person that's been so kindly flirtatious to him, to offer both food and comfort to a stranger—

A...stranger that Lionel thought was a human like him.

Rædnael felt a lump in his throat as he put his human phone down, hugging onto his knees with a small whine. If it ever came out that he was a halfling, and the same one Lionel has vehemently chased down, all of this nice and kind behavior would turn into hostility. 

"But then...maybe it's only fair..." he mumbled to himself, rubbing the pad of his thumb against the protective surface of his new ID. "It's Rodrick that he likes...and Rodrick is just a mask, too," his jaws set and he swallowed hard, rubbing his eyes. Was he really that different, as Rædnael, the halfling that no other demon would take seriously?

Were those really just the horns and tail that set people off so easily, that they'll so quickly wave off his innocent pleas?

Rædnael reached for his phone again, vision blurry as opened his single-entry contact list, displaying Lionel's card.

"It's just gonna end badly...more for me than you..." he spoke as if Lionel would hear him somehow, thumb hovering over the delete button.

And it kept hovering.

Like it was frozen in place.

He couldn't...

"But...I really did have a nice time," Rædnael sighed and pulled the phone closer to his chest. "It's gonna hurt if I just ghost him, too..."

The halfling sighed deeply and curled more into himself, picking up the phone to stare at the screen again, feeling the fatigue gradually setting in as the minutes ticked by.

Before feeling himself completely sinking into the throes of slumber he slowly moved his finger to the message button.

This was going to either be the worst mistake of his life...

Or a short term indulgence for him to look fondly back on.

"I'm glad you were free again today."

Lionel was absolutely beaming across the small table from Rædnael, over his cup of coffee and plate of pastries, which he insisted on fully paying for again. Rædnael still felt a little awkward accepting the free coffee and pastries, but Lionel was adamant about him not owing anything, at least for this meet-up.

"For the morning, at least. I still got some work to get done later," Rædnael smiled apologetically, his fingers interlocked to stop from fidgeting too much. "But this morning is going to make a great day, I'm sure," he added, knowing that it would, whatever happens at the conclusion of it all. He still had to figure out how to end it when he's out of disguise uses. He was already struggling to keep it now after it nearly wore off completely in the morning, but the coffee gave him enough stamina back to be confident enough of it holding until he had to pull out the work excuse to safely leave the scene. "I'm...surprised you saw my message so late, and still got up so early."

The halfling was surprised to witness the officer suddenly getting flustered and sputtering into his coffee cup. It was kind of endearing. "Oh...of course I saw it, I'm usually up at these hours," Lionel cleared his throat, trying to casually wave it off. "Police work will have your sleep get all over the place, it practically makes you both a night owl and an early bird at the same time!" He grinned proudly.

Rædnael couldn't imagine sleeping so late and so little on a regular basis, and without realizing, a sympathetic look came to his face. "That doesn't sound really healthy. Are all police officers like that, all the time?"

Lionel deflated and stammered, looking genuinely surprised at Rædnael's show of sincere concern. "Not...all the time. Mostly in the past month or so," he shrugged, toning down his bravado. "But it's enough to get you up early on a day off, too."

"Ah...that's a shame. I hope you find time to get some decent rest at some point," he flashed a little smile at Lionel, feeling wary again of showing too much teeth, just in case.

"Probably gonna take a bit of a time-off after the whole, um..." Lionel looked around, leaning over the table and lowering his voice, "after the whole Tar fiasco gets resolved," he leaned back, signaling Rædnael to keep quiet, "it has us all up in arms now and— hey, are you alright?"

Rædnael wasn't aware that paleness could show through his disguise, but turns out it could. "I'm...it's just..." Come on, what would a human be worried about? "The thought that there could be more rampaging demons around..." he whispered back.

"Hey...hey, it's gonna be alright," Lionel leaned over again, this time reaching over to gently hold onto Rædnael's hand, as he tried his best not to flinch. "I promise, I'll be working hard to make sure no demon would ever harm you...or anyone else, in Las Flores."

Despite knowing all too well that he was lumped together with everything that Lionel had just sworn to protect Las Flores from, Rædnael couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by protective sentiment, as well as by the reassuring touch. He always thought that the day an officer lays their hands on him, he'd get manhandled rough enough to have his tail yanked off his back. But this gentle, caring hold...that wasn't restricting and wasn't hurting in any way...he hoped that it wouldn't end. At least for as long as he's Rodrick. "You...I...I'm glad," he stammered, pursing his lips and carefully holding back to his hand. "Thanks, Lionel."

"A second bag of pastries, eh? Aren't you lucky? And risk-taking."

Adder's tongue was as sharp as his name suggested. A halfling born of two exiled demons, his most distinctive features were how snake-like he looked, with a subtle scales pattern, slit pupils and a forked tongue. Despite his menacing appearance, he was the contact that Heks had sent Rædnael to meet, having made him the human ID and supplying him with a new phone. He's been told to come back to the office today for assistance with getting a proper job.

"I...I know I shouldn't, but—"

"It'll end badly."

"...I know."

Adder sighed, his muscular, reptilian tail weaving behind him. "Better drop the disguise before you pass out. I'll circle you back home," he said as he sat behind his desk.

Rædnael let out a long exhale, feeling a sudden chill engulf him as the disguise spell has been lifted. He shuddered, hugging himself. "Y...you know they say that third time's the charm, yeah?"

"And that trouble comes in threes, too," Adder pointed out, scratching his chin. "I hope you have a good break-up plan."

"Um...yeah, kind of," Rædnael shrugged, trying to be dismissive of it. "Just...running away from things, like I always do..."

"Well...it's not like you can fight. Or confess," he huffed, typing something in his computer.

Rædnael felt the blush rise to his face even at the thought. "But...what if I prove I'm harmless? That I don't mean to—"

"He wouldn't care. Humans never care," Adder's voice hardened, causing the other halfling to shrink in his seat. "If you really want to make the most of it while it lasts...just be careful, alright?  I don't want to be telling Heks that you used her disguise artifact to go out with a human. A policeman, of all things."

"O-okay, I get it..." Rædnael sighed, rubbing his arms to try and get rid of the gripping chill.

Adder looked up to the crestfallen halfling, sighing again. "It's not just for your sake. It's for his, too. Other demons would jump at the opportunity to exploit the fact you're getting this close to a cop," he pointed out, letting out a disgruntled groan. "You of all people don't want that. If you thought that framing you for being involved in Tar manufacturing, this would be far worse."

Feeling his heart sink, Rædnael already felt like all of his doubts from last night are coming back, rising in his throat like bile.

Glancing over from his screen, Adder grumbled quietly, scratching the scales on his neck and reaching to a drawer below the desk, taking out a vial filled with swirling purple mist. "Take this, Rai. It's an emergency invisibility spell. Kind of like a smoke bomb, but actually makes you invisible," he said, handing it over to the halfling, "in case things get...dire."

"Heh...Heks told you I'm not strong with magic, huh?" Rædnael murmured, taking the vial in his shaking hand.

"Yeah, but it's a good thing to have even if you have stronger innate magic. Just for how fast it is," he flashed a little smile, going back to the screen, "and it's not like you're gonna stop seeing that policeman while you still can."

"I...I-is it that obvious?" Rædnael flushed, almost dropping the potion, as if matching his desire to disappear.

Adder nodded slowly, looking back at the screen as he kept typing. "Looks like there are some available menial labor jobs, it's a good place to start...maybe build some strength. But I'll have to make a bunch of calls, you won't need to be here for that," he dismissed, getting up and walking Rædnael to the teleportation circle in the back of his office. "Once you'll have a job, you'll have your permit to stay in the mixed district."

"Wh...when do you think you'll have an answer?" Rædnael wondered, stepping into the circle.

"Might have some even as soon as tomorrow. Guess I'll see you after your date."

In a flash of red light, Rædnael was back in his apartment, holding tightly onto the invisibility vial, almost on the verge of breaking it.

Oh dear...these really were dates, weren't they?