This is a work of fanfiction. All characters (except Emerald) belong to Aphmau / Jessica Bravura.

Cover Art belongs to Aphmau / Jessica Bravura.

Please don't sue me.


Hey Ava! I was wondering if you and Em wanted to go to the Fall Festival coming up next week? Maybe invite some of your hunks too! ;) Just wanted to invite you, a few friends from high school will be there!

Ava sat on her bed, staring at the text message she'd just received. "Ugh, Lorelai... " she muttered, glaring at her phone. She was caught off-guard when it beeped again to alert her to a new text.

You probably are going "ugh" at this message, but you know you secretly want to go. I can tell! It's next Saturday, so if you want to go but don't want to text back, just meet us at the Festival at 2PM! Hope you and Em are doing well!

"Stupid Lorelai. Why does she keep asking if I wanna hang out?" She paused as a thought suddenly occurred to her. Something in the text messages stood out to her. "Wait... festival?" Ava gasped in shock, rising from her bed and running towards her window. "I just realized - !"

As the short woman stared at the ground below her, the obvious signs of Fall became more and more apparent: browning leaves on trees, people dressed in cute sweaters and cozy jackets, a couple holding hands while carrying what was very obviously pumpkin spiced drinks from the coffee shop.

"It... it's October!" she cried out in delight. She got dressed in record time, then raced from her room and burst into Em's without even bothering to knock. "Em, it's October!" Ava immediately brought herself to a halt as she caught sight of the veteran.

Em was lying on top of the covers of her bed in her running clothes, although it didn't look like she'd actually made it out for a run that morning. She blearily opened her eyes, looking unimpressed at the intrusion. "Uh, yeah. I know. My birthday is October 1st. I thought you already knew what month it was."

Instead of addressing the issue at hand, Ava chose to study her roommate a little closer. There were visible bags under the taller woman's eyes, her expression one of exhaustion. "Are you doing that not sleeping thing again?"

Em groaned. "Not by choice." She sat up on her bed, leaning forward heavily to rest her chin in her hand. "I would love to sleep, but there are other... pressing matters that need my attention."

Ava scoffed. "Are you talking about the guys? All I've seen them doing since we gave them the TV is sit and watch it! In fact, I haven't seen them leave... at all... " She trailed off as she realized the situation. "They've been watching the TV nonstop for two days?!"

The veteran nodded. "Just about." She covered a long yawn, blinking slowly once she was done. "I haven't even introduced them to the wonders of other channels yet." She tried sitting up a little straighter. "Did you know Daemos only need about three hours of sleep a night?"

"You know, you could just get some sleep and let them figure stuff out on their own."

A harsh shake of her head. "No way. I already told you: it's like teaching children. We can't just plop them down in front of the TV and expect them to absorb everything perfectly." She let out a breath that might have been a laugh. "They... have a lot of questions."

"Maybe we should try putting some time limits on when they can watch it?" Ava stepped forward, grabbing the veteran gently by the arm and trying to pull her up. "But we can talk about that later. For now, come help me get the apartment properly spookified for Halloween!"

Em let out another breathy chuckle, allowing herself to be moved. "Okay, okay." She stretched, then reached over and grabbed her phone from the bed. "Maybe it'll help me wake up a bit." This was the most animated she'd seen Ava in weeks, and she wasn't going to put a damper on the mood.

"See, that's the spirit! Let's get spooky!"


It took a bit longer than expected to even get started.

The Halloween decorations hadn't been put away properly, so almost all of them were covered in dust. The two women decided it might go faster if Emerald focused on cleaning them up while Ava decided where to put everything. It would also allow the taller woman to sit down at the counter so she wouldn't be at risk of slipping off the stepladder.

Once the first few tabletop decorations were clean, Ava started setting them up around the apartment. The lights were taking a bit longer than expected, so the two women decided to just hang them up and get them cleaned when they put them away at the end of the season. Plan set, they put their music in and got to work in earnest.

The Daemos were absorbed in the TV again, although it looked like they were watching the local morning news. It seemed to be a safe enough program, so Emerald wasn't too concerned about leaving them unattended for the time being, although she did glance back from time to time to see what was on. It was more of a "talk show" than hard-hitting international news, light-hearted chatter meant to serve as background noise for people getting ready for their morning commute, although it did deliver the weather report amongst all the fluff.

After a while, some of the Daemos began to notice the changes taking place in the apartment. Pierce was first, but Noi quickly followed his gaze and realized something was happening.

"Um, do you guys notice that Ava is acting strange?" the smallest Daemos questioned, looking to the others.

Pierce nodded. "I did. She's been putting odd things up."

"What's wrong with her?" Leif glanced over, not seeming too concerned at the situation.

Asch finally tore his eyes away from the TV, taking in the changes. "Huh? What happened to this place?"

Rhys shushed all of them. "Quiet! The news reporter is telling us his weather predictions again!"

"I think you might be more interested in this," Pierce prodded him gently.

"Huh?" He blinked in bewilderment. "Where did all this other stuff come from?"

Asch frowned. "I want to know that as well."

"Huh. Did you see where it came from, Pierce?" Noi looked to the tallest for guidance.

The Daemos general shook his head. "No. I only turned my attention to her a bit ago."

"Hey! Princess Ava!" Leif called, narrowing his eyes when the short human failed to acknowledge him. "PRINCESS AVA!" he shouted, practically boreing a hole in the back of her head with his glare. When she failed to acknowledge him a second time, his frustration only increased. "AVA!"

Asch chuckled haughtily. "It's obvious Princess Ava does not respect you enough to reply."

"AAAVVVAAA!" Despite his ever increasing volume, she didn't even turn her head in the slightest.

"Allow me." The Daemos prince turned confidently towards the smaller woman's back. "Uh, Princess Ava." To his dismay, she continued to ignore all of them. As Leif gave a soft scoff of laughter, Asch felt himself growing frustrated. "Princess Ava?!"

Leif grinned. "Well, looks like she doesn't respect you as - "

"Prisoner!"

Noi looked at Pierce in concern. "Wh-wha - what's wrong with Ava?"

"She can't hear."

"What?!"

"No, wait!" Rhys narrowed his eyes as he studied Ava's profile. "I see the issue!"

Asch rolled his eyes, frustrated. "What could possibly be the issue?!"

"Look: in her ears... " All of the Daemos looked closer, finally noticing the small, white pods hidden beneath her hair. "I've seen warnings like this before."

Pierce furrowed his eyebrows. "What does it mean?"

"Ava is infected with 'the wealth'. A sign of that is those pods of air."

"Wh-what?! How do you know this?" Noi stared at Rhys in open awe.

"I had seen something like it before Emerald forbid me to use the computer anymore." At his own mention of the veteran, the spectacled Daemos looked over the back of the couch into the rest of the apartment. He seemed visibly relieved to see her sitting at the counter, although it was short-lived. 'Why has she not rejoined us to watch the TV yet?'

"So all we have to do is get those things out of her ears. Simple." Leif reached forward to grab the TV remote. As he turned to see what was happening, Rhys's eyes went wide with horror as the former assassin swiftly chucked it right at the short woman on the ladder.

To everyone's surprise, Asch phased in front of the projectile, catching it easily.

"What the - ?!" Leif's mouth dropped open in shock.

"We don't throw things at a princess," the Daemos prince scolded.

"When did you learn my trick?!"

"Well, I used magic."

"Prince Asch!" Rhys was not happy about Asch's use of magic.

"Oh." Leif snickered. "So you can't naturally do it."

Asch waved him off. "I'm sure I could if I wanted to. Besides, I'm sure you use magic to do your trick."

The former assassin replied with tsk-tsking noises, shaking his head.

"Why did you stop the remote?" Rhys decided to cut in before a physical fight broke out between the two.

"The mentor in the TV told us to gain Ava's affections. We need not to throw things at her."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Leif responded flatly.

"Your simple mind will only be your downfall in winning Ava's affections."

"Did... did Asch get smart from the TV?" Noi's eyes went wide with wonder.

Rhys let out a disbelieving chuckle. "I'm impressed."

Asch grinned confidently. "I learned a lot from the TV." As he moved his feet to a more commanding pose, his back foot nudged the edge of the ladder Ava stood on. The sudden shift was enough to send her flying off her perch, straight towards the floor -

- only to be caught by Pierce, who had moved faster than anyone could see. For a moment, it almost appeared he had moved so fast, his black under-armor had come off, leaving his bare chest exposed.

"Oh my God, what the heck?!" Ava stared up at her savior in confusion, although she did appear grateful she hadn't hurt herself.

"Are you all right, Princess Ava?!" Rhys stood quickly, followed by Noi and Leif.

She nodded her head as she stood, turning to face the group. "Yeah, I'm fine." She gave the Daemos general a small grin. "Thanks, Pierce."

"Yes," he answered simply.

"Why did you bump my ladder?!" Ava glared at Asch.

"I-I-I-I-I-I didn't! I - "

"If you want my attention, just come talk to me, don't try to kill me!"

"I wasn't: Leif was!"

"Just because Leif likes to kill doesn't mean you can pin this on him. I saw you next to the ladder, Asch!"

"No, Leif was!"

"L-L-L-L-Leif was!" the former assassin mocked, grinning at how flustered the Daemos prince was at the accusation.

"Shut up before I kill you!" Asch growled, taking a few steps forward.

Ava sighed. "Asch, you need to learn some manners." She looked down at her clothes, noticing the large swath of dust across the front of her hoodie. "Be right back: I need to dust off."

No sooner had she left, the arguing began.

"Wow Asch, that was very inconsiderate of you," Leif baited the Daemos prince, suppressing a grin.

"You're dead!" Asch roared, summoning a fireball in his right hand which the former assassin dodged easily before phasing away. Once Leif had left, he turned to his remaining knights. "Why didn't you guys back me up?!"

Rhys cocked an eyebrow at him. "You do realize we're all after Ava's affections."

"You do realize I'm the Prince of Daemos!" he shot back.

"Are we on Daemos?"

"I - um... "

"We talked about this before. Ava's free game for all of us." Noi cut in patiently.

Pierce nodded. "We still respect you, and will serve you dilligently - "

" - but the thought of becoming the King of the Earth is rather interesting." Despite his words, there was something troubled behind Rhys's response.

"Besides, it's a fun competition, don't ya think?" Leif phased in just long enough to deliver the quip, swiftly vanishing again as Asch launched another fireball at him.

"Damn it!"

"What did you just say?!"

All the Daemos turned in unison to face the source of the voice. Emerald was standing next to the counter, headphones wrapped around the back of her neck as she glared at them. For some reason, her expression made them all feel like children being scolded by a parent. Her glasses weren't on her face, instead resting on the kitchen counter where she'd been working on cleaning the decorations.

Asch could almost feel himself physically withering under her stare. "Uh, I said... um... 'damn it'."

"Where did you learn that language from?"

Rhys looked at her in confusion. "You and Princess Ava say it all the time, Dame Emerald."

"Oh. Uh... right." To her credit, the veteran looked a bit guilty.

"We also heard it on the TV!" Noi added helpfully. "Along with f- "

"Forget about that one right now!" Ava interrupted hastily, coming out of her room. "From the sound of things, I think we need to invest in a new Swear Jar pretty soon." She nudged her roommate lightly in the ribs. "Isn't that right, Em?"

Before the taller woman could reply, Asch cut in. "Enough! Explain to us what you're doing to your home."

Both women stared at the Daemos in confusion.

"I'm rather fascinated as well," Rhys added.

"Same!" Noi let out a happy laugh. "I'm really curious about these interesting objects!"

"Oh! Wow, I guess we should tell you guys, but it's October! Which means Halloween is coming!" Ava was almost bouncing with excitement.

"Hall-o-ween?" Pierce tripped a bit over the new word.

"Yup. It's a holiday, and it's also when I feel most like myself."

Rhys looked confused. "What does that mean?"

"Like... I dunno, I guess I feel more energy from the season and it's just really getting into me and making me feel stronger, you know?"

"S-so... it's a ritual to give you more power!" Noi seemed so pleased with his assessment.

"Wait! Oh, God... " Emerald murmured under her breath, shooting a tiny glare at Ava.

Leif rose up from behind the couch. "Now we're talkin'!"

Rhys nodded. "I'd love to know more."

"I forget you guys take everything literally," Ava muttered, but shook it off quickly. "Look, October is just the month that gets spooky, and it's fun, and I normally spend it inside by myself but, I mean, this year I have you guys and Em, which means... "

"What's she doing?" Leif asked to no one in particular as Ava trailed off, looking down at the floor.

"N-nothing. Just, um... look!" The shorter woman pointed to the banner she'd been hanging before her fall. "See? These are Halloween decorations. They're meant to be fun and just enjoy."

Noi grinned happily. "They look delicious!"

"Can we eat them?!" Rhys looked between the two women for permission to try one of the (what he perceived to be) treats.

"Absolutely not!" Emerald interrupted, a disgusted look on her face. "For one thing, they weren't put away properly, so they're covered in dust."

"They do not taste like the popping corn," Asch mumbled out, already chewing on one of the jack-o-lantern bulbs.

"No," Pierce agreed, also mouthing a decoration.

Ava gasped in horror. "My lights!" She immediately began pulling on the other end. "Let go!"

Emerald held out a hand. "Wait, Ava! Don't - " She was cut off as electricity suddenly surged through the string of lights, smoking and glowing brightly. The veteran didn't waste any time, rushing over to the outlet and smacking the plug out of the socket before yanking the cord out of everyone's grasp.

"W-what the f - "

"Language, Ava." Emerald was immediately at the shorter woman's side, checking her over for any injuries. The last thing she needed was an interrogation from Andrew and Devon over how their baby girl ended up in the hospital for electrocution.

A quick glance assured her the shorter woman was unharmed. Asch and Pierce appeared uninjured as well, although all of them looked a bit dirty from the dust that hadn't been cleaned off the lights. Without saying a word, the veteran pointed at the two Daemos, then the couch.

They went over to sit without a peep, looking properly mollified.

"What happened?" Rhys asked in soft shock.

"They all almost got electrocuted," Emerald sighed, rubbing a hand tiredly over her face. She pointed at the nearby outlet in the wall. "You guys see those sockets? You should never touch one of those or stick anything in them, unless it's a plug. Even then, you should ask me or Ava for help before trying it yourselves, okay?" She narrowed her eyes. "And definitely don't go around biting anything attached to them!"

"It'll release a surge of energy that can hurt or even kill you," Ava added helpfully.

She glared at the shorter woman. "You also shouldn't pull on the cord like that, especially if it's in someone's mouth!" Emerald sighed again. "You're lucky you didn't get anything more than a little zap and some mussed-up clothes."

Rhys still looked confused. "But... what exactly is electricity?"

Emerald thought for a moment. "You know what? It's easier if I just show you." She approached him slowly, rubbing her socked feet on the carpet as she came closer. When she was about a foot away, the veteran reached out and touched his hand.

The spectacled Daemos leapt back as the static electricity shocked him. "Wha-what was that?!"

Noi's eyes widened. "Was that... magic?!"

Emerald shook her head. "No. It was static electricity, a weaker form of electricity that forms when there's an imbalance of electrons between atoms." At the confused look from all of the Daemos, she stopped and sighed. "Maybe I can find a science show for you guys to watch later that can explain it better... "

Ava wasn't paying attention, instead staring sadly at the shorted-out light string. "Now my lights are broken and I'll have to get new ones."

Rhys perked up immediately. "You're actually going out!"

"Yeah. I love to decorate for the holidays! I've never had any of my decorations break, until now... "

At the prospect of leaving the apartment, all the Daemos immediately leapt to their feet, begging the women to take them along.

Ava shook her head adamantly. "Nu-uh! If any of you are going with me, it's going to be one of you. So choose amongst yourselves wisely."

"I can come," Emerald offered, coming back to stand at her side.

The shorter woman shook her head again. "No way, Em. You are going to go to your room and getting some actual rest today. You're barely keeping it together as it is!" To demonstrate, she poked the taller woman in the shoulder, actually knocking her slightly off-balance before she steadied herself.

"Are you sure?" Even though the veteran didn't look too thrilled about the idea of letting Ava go out alone with one of the Daemos, she was equally concerned about what might happen to the apartment if they left them unsupervised with all the new decorations out.

"I'm positive." Ava turned the taller woman around, gently nudging her towards her room. "You go lie down: I'll take care of this." She looked down at her own clothes and sighed in frustration. "As soon as I go clean up. Again... "

As soon as the doors to both women's bedrooms were closed, the Daemos turned to face each other. "Well, I suppose we're going to talk about this," Rhys began hopefully.

"More like argue - " Asch began, but was almost immediately cut off by Ava's voice through the door.

"And I better not hear any arguing!"

The Daemos prince let out a frustrated groan. "Fine! Then there's only one way to settle this... "

"A peaceful debate, I assume?" Rhys cut in, already knowing what the answer most likely was.

"Something like that... "


Luckily, it didn't take Ava much time to get herself dusted off again. As she walked towards the door, she was relieved to notice she couldn't hear any noise from the living room. 'Looks like they can be civil after all,' she thought, allowing a little grin to appear on her face as she opened the door -

- only to see four of the five Daemos engaged in near-silent combat. Pierce and Leif were facing off, the Daemos general seeming to have the former assassin at a disadvantage. Asch had Noi in a headlock, periodically punching him in the face. Rhys simply stood among the chaos, holding a hand to his head in silent resignation.

All of the fighting stopped as they noticed her staring at them flatly, Asch releasing Noi bodily on the floor. "Seriously?" she sighed.

"To be fair, the rule you said before was... they couldn't fight... loudly." Rhys seemed just as disappointed as she felt.

"The hope is that no one would fight at all."

Asch looked at her pleadingly. "I'm going with you to the - "

"No, me!" Noi interrupted, glaring at the Daemos prince.

"Stop! We're going to settle this like adults." Ava pointed at each Daemos in turn. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe... "

"Uh, what is she doing?" Asch stared at her in confusion as she continued the rhyme.

"Pointing at us?" Leif offered up.

Pierce looked concerned. "She speaks in tongues... "

"I like her tongue," Noi laughed happily, although the smile quickly dropped from his face as the other Daemos glared at him murderously. "I-I-I-I-I mean to caress, is all!" he stuttered out, blushing furiously as nervous giggles bubbled past his lips.

"She's casting a spell," Rhys murmured, studying the 'ritual' closely.

" - and you will be... it." Ava stopped the rhyme, her arm pointing straight ahead. "Leif? Looks like you're coming. Get your human clothes on."

"Wh - Me?!" He laughed happily as he phased away. "Yes!"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Noi shouted, glaring.

Asch nodded, glaring as well. "For once, I agree with Noi!"

Ava had her reply ready to go. "Look, I used a spell of 'picking'. If I don't listen to it, I'll die."

"Ready!" Leif announced as he phased back, fully dressed in his human outfit.

"Let's go." Ava led the way, the former assassin following closely behind. Neither of them noticed the death glares the other four Daemos were shooting at Leif's back.


Emerald groaned as she opened her eyes. She was lying on her bed, having changed back into her pajamas for the day. She'd been hoping to grab a quick nap, but from the sound of the Daemos arguing, it seemed she'd have to go out sooner rather than later.

She let out another groan, frustrated at being interrupted yet again. Still, she knew there'd only be a bigger mess to take care of later if she didn't intervene now, so the veteran pulled herself up and stumbled out into the main living area.

As expected, the four remaining Daemos were standing in a half-circle, grumbling loudly to each other. From what she could see, Emerald was surprised that Ava had chosen to take Leif out on the excursion. Shaking her head, she approached the group. "I take it you're all a bit salty about Ava's choice?"

"It's not fair," Noi grumbled, trying not to look like he was pouting and failing miserably.

"How did she decide, anyway?"

"She used a 'spell of picking', which she said would kill her if she didn't abide by its decision." Rhys was trying to be helpful, but couldn't hide his own disappointment.

Emerald sighed. "How about we go see if I can find something new for you guys to watch?"

Pierce tilted his head in confusion. "Are you certain?"

She nodded. "There's something I've been meaning to teach you guys, anyway. Now seems as good a time as any to show you actually have a choice in what you can watch."

"What do you mean?" Rhys was suddenly very close, his eyes wide with curiosity.

Emerald almost lost her balance as she instinctively took a step back, but was stopped by a hand against her back. She looked, surprised to see it was Noi who had stopped her. She gave him a small grin of thanks, then motioned for the Daemos to follow her. "C'mon, let's see if we can find something that interests you guys... and doesn't involve any more questionable language."

The Daemos quickly settled back into their earlier positions, Emerald taking Leif's previous spot between Asch and Rhys. She looked around. "Where's the remote?"

"Oh, uh, here." Asch held it out to her, forgetting he had been holding onto it this entire time.

"Thank you, Asch." She turned on the TV, then began flipping through the channels at a pace almost too quick for others to keep up with.

"How many other 'cha-nells' are there?" Rhys asked, wonder in his voice.

"With the receiver? About twenty or so." She stopped as she came to PBS, happy to see an old episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy was just about to start. "Hey, look at that: a science show." She put the remote down on the coffee table, settling back and trying to mentally prepare herself for the avalanche of questions which were sure to follow.

Asch stared at her accusingly. "Why did you not tell us about the different 'cha-nells' earlier?"

"Because I didn't want you guys sitting here getting overwhelmed and keeping me awake forever with more questions," she shot back, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice. "I'm pretty sure at this point y'all need a lot less sleep than humans do, and I can't keep staying up so late." As if to demonstrate her point, she covered up a huge, almost violent yawn.

"Do you wish for me to help you sleep?" Pierce looked at her with understanding.

Emerald shook her head adamantly. "Absolutely not." She gave him a tired smile. "Look, I know you're just trying to help, but whatever Sleepy-Time Spell you've been using gives me absolutely terrible nightmares." She rested against the back of the couch. "Why don't y'all just watch the show and learn about some Earth science? I'll be right here, so let me know if there's something you don't understand." A pause. "And don't try eating any more of the decorations."


"So, what's the deal with Emerald?"

"Huh?" Ava looked back at Leif, who was following closely behind her through the aisles. They had obtained the new lights, but she had decided to pick up some Sleepy-Time tea for her roommate. Sometimes, when she stayed up too late, Em had trouble getting to sleep at all.

"Why does she stay with you? I mean, if she's supposed to be a guard, she does a really bad job of making sure you're protected."

"Oh, that." The shorter woman paused as she looked over the teas, trying to decide how much she should tell him. "I only know bits and pieces. We used to hang out a bit when we were younger, but only because her parents worked for my dads and sometimes she had to watch me while they were all busy."

"So... she's always been your guard?"

"No, nothing like that." Ava finally found what she was looking for, grabbing it and heading towards the checkouts. "Once she graduated high school, she joined the Air Force and was gone for a couple of years. Then... something happened while she was deployed." The shorter woman paused, looking thoughtful as they waited in line. "Em's never told me exactly what it was, but I think she got hurt pretty badly. They let her out of the military, so she moved back into that apartment to help out her parents."

"Where are they now?"

"I'm... not sure." Ava frowned. "They've never been in the apartment since I moved in, and Em doesn't talk about them." She shook her head, giving him a small grin as she put the items on the counter. "But I'm sure everything's fine. Now, let's get these paid for and get back before the other guys start bugging Em with more questions."


Rhys was worried.

Granted, he found the new "science" show Emerald had put on for them absolutely fascinating. There were so many things he didn't fully understand, but he realized this "Science Guy" was doing a fairly good job of explaining the concepts. Indeed, Noi and Asch seemed completely absorbed in the information being presented.

No, what had him worried was Emerald's behavior while they watched the TV. She kept nodding off, her head falling back against the couch and fully exposing her throat to the Daemos before she jerked herself awake. If Leif had been with them, the spectacled Daemos wasn't sure if he'd've been able to prevent the former assassin from killing her outright.

Standing in his previous position between the couch and the armchair, Pierce seemed just as concerned. It was fortunate Asch was so absorbed in the TV, or else he might have taken advantage of her position as well.

"She is going to hurt herself," the former general whispered, leaning in close so no one else could hear.

Rhys nodded. "Indeed. But you heard her: she has specifically requested we don't assist her with sleeping."

"There must be something we can do."

The spectacled Daemos thought for a moment. It was hard, as the TV was presenting him a veritable treasure trove of information about Earth, but he eventually came up with a plan. Slowly, so as not to startle her, Rhys reached over and gently began patting the top of her head.

Despite his precautions, Emerald still jumped a little. "Rhys?" she murmured tiredly. "What're you doing?"

"I know I'm not as talented as Pierce or Leif at giving massages, but I would still like to help you get some rest... without the use of magic." He handed her one of the pillows from the couch. "Why don't you lie down? I'm sure it'll be more comfortable than leaning back like that."

The veteran looked like she was about to argue, but changed her mind after a few seconds. She carefully folded her body to fit in between Rhys and Asch on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her. She placed the pillow on the former's lap and slowly laid down, mindful of where her hands and feet were as she rested her head on the cushion.

Rhys felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips as he continued to stroke her hair, amazed at how soft it felt. After a few minutes, he risked a glance down to study her face, satisfied to see she appeared to be asleep.

He had to admit: this felt nice. If courting Ava would result in scenarios like this, the spectacled Daemos was positive he would enjoy the process. Still, the princess had not been making this easy on any of them. He was almost 100% sure she was using Emerald as a distraction to keep herself from getting too close to any of them.

If they were to have any luck courting their real target, the taller woman would have to believe they genuinely meant no harm and could be trusted alone with her charge. To that end, it might help their cause more if she believed they were willing to properly court her as well.

'But we'll have to be careful,' Rhys thought, resting his hand against her forehead to make sure she wasn't getting sick again.'She is very clever. If the conversation we had a few nights ago is any indication, she may already suspect the real reason we're here.'

He frowned at the idea. If, as it turned out, Emerald figured out their true plan for Earth...

... she would have to be neutralized.