"It's not you," Cole's voiced echoed through the previously silent hall; Vivienne jumped, looked up from her book, sighed impatiently at the sight of the boy lingering in the edges of the candlelight.
"I don't want to talk, demon," she said, returning to her reading. "Why don't you go pester Blue, hmm?" He hesitated in the doorway, took a few steps closer.
"It's not you," he repeated. "You think she protects you because she thinks you're incapable, but that's not it. When she fights a group, she kills the mages first. They're dangerous. You're dangerous." Trying her best to look disinterested, she peeked over the top edge of her book as he continued. "She knows you're a capable fighter, and she knows that they know that. So she puts herself between you and them. She doesn't need to, you don't need her to, but it makes her feel better."
"I believe I told you to leave," she snapped, and just like that, without so much as a step, he was gone. She rolled her eyes, buried herself in her book, but somewhere deep inside of her a sliver of resentment fell away. So Blue didn't think her helpless after all. For a moment it was a comfort— then she shivered, bristled at the realization that somehow the Inquisitor's pet demon had done exactly what he'd come to do; poke around in her mind and 'fix' things as he saw fit. Entirely inappropriate, and she made a mental note to tell Blue exactly that.
Remember when I said I hate coming up with titles? I only stuck with Blue Iron because when I googled it to see if blue iron is even a thing, it gave me pictures of actual blue clothing irons and I laughed so hard I choked. The title stays, and my ship has a symbol. Excellent.