I had ran out of the butcher quick enough to completely leave Naomi behind. But it was the way I would always deal with these type of people. I got so tired of everyone constantly reminding me about how weak my magic is that I eventually began walking away from them so I wouldn’t have to hear it.

Unfortunately for Naomi, she didn’t know that and had to run to catch up to me. “Evelyn, wait up!” she said as she stopped beside me “Are you okay? Why are you this upset after what that man said?” her eyes were filled with worry for me.

Regrettably, I took out my frustration on her “You know, you constantly invading my privacy by sensing what I’m feeling can get really annoying at times!” I then stormed off once more with her following a few steps behind me.

I don’t know why I snapped at her like that. Over time I had learned to bundle up those emotions and pretend I was okay. But now that there was a person who has only shown me kindness, I immediately take out my anger on her again? I wasn’t thinking in the moment, but with every step I took, the anger subsided and my guilt was building.

After a minute of walking with no words coming from Naomi, it was clear to me that I had upset her. I began feeling horrible and could sense Hama in my arms screaming at me to apologize to her. Which I listened to and stopped walking, then turned around to face her.

When I did turn around, she had her head pointed to the ground and was fidgeting with her hands. It almost broke my heart having to see her like that again. But it’s always been like that for me. My outbursts in the past ended up hurting the people that I care about. Even after all these years, I couldn’t seem to stop my them.

“I’m really sorry Naomi…” I said to her, making her raise her head “I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on you. It’s just… I’m sorry. And I don’t mind you reading my emotions. So please don’t stop.”

She hesitated for a moment “It’s fine… I’m just not really used to being yelled at… I understand you were in some sort of distress, but it just really didn’t feel good.”

It made my heart hurt to hear her say that. The way it sounded, I was the first person to ever make her feel the way she was. I felt so much disgust with myself. The only thing I thought of to make it up to her was my apology, but it looked like it didn’t make anything better.

“I-it was wrong to yell at you… I’ll make it up to you somehow… I’m really sorry.” I was unable to look at her. My body was shaking as I was trying to fight back tears. I didn’t want to cry in front of her and make it seem like I was making this about myself.

Though Naomi already knew exactly how I felt since she started reading my emotions again “Evelyn… how about we find a place to sit down for now? Hama told me about a park near here that sounds like a nice place.”

Swallowing all of my tears gave me a headache, but at least I was able to avoid crying in front of her. And I liked her idea, so I answered “Yeah that sounds good.” then, knowing I was holding back tears, Naomi suggested “How about I hold Hama for the walk over there? You must be getting tired.”

I looked down at him, and he nodded at me “Okay, as long as he’s fine with it.” I handed him over for her to hold.

It was her first time holding him, and she couldn’t have been more thrilled. Naomi loved cute animals and wanted to play with them as much as possible. But with her relationship with Hama having mostly been about translating between me and him, she felt it would have been weird to ask to hold him. So she was making the most of the moment by burying her face into his fluff.

Which Hama didn’t mind. He was used to me doing it all the time after-all. And I always enjoyed when I got a chance to give my arms a break. It made the walk to park go quickly and feel so effortless without that extra weight.

Once we got there I could see that the small park wasn’t nearly as crowded as usual. When the sun was out and the weather was nice, most people liked to spend the days at the lake. But I always felt the park was a more peaceful place to be. Especially now when all the summer flowers were blooming. 

Naomi found a bench under a tree to sit on and I followed her. She put Hama on the ground where he waited to see where I was sitting. He always wanted to lay right next to my feet. His eyes followed me as I took a spot on the bench with enough space between me and Naomi for another person. Hama laid against my feet and the silence continued.

It was Naomi that was the first one to speak a moment later “Can I ask you a private question?”

No doubtingly it was about what just happened, I let out a big breath and responded “Yeah, go ahead.”

She was carefully thinking of her words “That man back there said your magic is weak. Why would he say something like that?”

That being the question she asked wasn’t a surprise. After everything she had been telling me about Hama being a powerful demon she must have assumed I had powerful magic. Which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Every magic attempt I’ve ever tried was proof of that.

So I had to break it to her “Because it’s true. I’m the laughing stock of the town because of how little magic I’m capable of doing.”

My response of course confused her “But Hama is an incredibly powerful demon. How could your magic be that weak?”

“It just is… after I had summoned him, the most amount of fire that I was able to produce was the weak flame you saw before. That plus Hama deciding to be a Pomeranian made it impossible for anyone to take me seriously.”

There was a pause before her response. I had thought it was because she was rethinking everything she she assumed about Hama’s power level, but she wasn’t. Instead her voice became somber and she looked at the ground “I know what it’s like to be considered a joke.”

When she said that, she gained my full attention “After the Dream demons were being refused as familiars, the rest of Hell pretty much moved on without us. All of the other types of demons were able to gradually grow in power while we were left to rot.”

I had no intent to interrupt her. I only listened “Most of the Dream demons even stopped having children. There was no hope for the future among my people, so a lot just gave up. But my parents… they still had hope that things would turn around. That’s why I think they didn’t stop me from coming here… they have hope that I would be able to change peoples minds here.”

Even though I couldn’t use magic to read people’s emotions like she was able to, I could still feel exactly what she was feeling. After everything I learned about Dream demons, I never thought about what their lives were like after the cleansing.

I didn’t know how I should have responded. Naomi was the type of person to respond to physical touch, but it wasn’t something I was used to. The most amount of physical contact I ever had was in the last two days with Naomi. So even though I knew that’s what she needed to be comforted, I felt there was a mental block on what I should do.

But I had to do something to show that I cared. I saw that her hands were both placed on the bench. So I moved a little closer to her and gently placed my hand on hers “I had no idea… that sounds so awful… but I’m really glad you decided to come here… I know it’s only been a short time, but I feel like my life has gotten better after meeting you.”

Her head slowly turned to me until our eyes met. She was happy to see me opening up to her a bit. Before that moment, she felt like I had been completely closed off, but saying that left an opening for her to sneak through “I feel the same way. I would have been completely lost without you, and it means the world to me that you’re still here with me.”

It felt good to be talking to her like this “Maybe it was fate that we met.” I said, then quickly regretted. I couldn’t believe I would say something that cheesy to her when we were still basically strangers. The way her smile slowly built and eyes brightened made me nervous about saying it. Hama even cocked his head to me and wondered if he heard me correctly.

So I scooted away from her and quickly changed the subject “Uh d-do you think I should maybe try out that Blood magic now?”

Naomi was disappointed once I immediately shut down the conversation, but she knew the importance of me attempting my magic “Yeah, I think if we wait any longer, then Hama will explode in anticipation.”

We both looked over at him and it was true. His little body was shaking just at the mention of magic. He was being patient by letting us have our heart-to-heart, but the main thing he cared about was having me attempt my Blood magic.

I chuckled and told him “Don’t worry Hama, I’m getting to it right now.” which he stood up and barked for. Then I went into my bag and pulled out the pint of blood.