She hadn't worked with Niffty since Ryan joined their ranks. "Heya, Niffty! Is it okay if I work with you today?"
"Sure thing. Some rooms have a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on them. Avoid those. Hopefully we can clean all the rooms and get started on repairing the fifth floor. Since we've last worked together I got floors three and four remodeled and cleaned. Work on demon speed today." Niffty was awful calm given her normal nature. It seemed she had a determination to get that fifth floor clean today.
"Yes, ma'am." She said jokily.
"Ryan, I want you to work with Selena. She works fast and can teach you some ropes that you haven't caught onto yet. Byeeeeeee!" She darted to the end of the hall to work. Leaving the two of them to start on the entry end of the hall.
"Well let's get started!" Selena pushed up her sleeves and entered the first room.
She and Ryan had cleaned several rooms at this point. She had given him pointers on how to improve his speed since keeping up with Niffty was hard enough. Eventually, she realized that he was avoiding her to a small degree. "Everything all right, Ryan?"
"Hey. Nothing's wrong."
"If something's on your mind, you can tell me. I notice you're a little jumpy. Especially from Alastor. Did he bully you or something? I can go beat him up for you if you like."
"You'd beat up your boyfriend for me?" Ryan was amazed at her kindness.
"Well he's not my boyfriend yet. Just courting me for the time being. I figured that'll end when he gets bored of me, but for now I'll just take advantage of feeling special."
"So you're using him. Kinda mean, huh? What if he genuinely likes you?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. I genuinely like him, but I'm not sure if he confessed his love for me because he was bored, confused, or if it was genuine. Alastor is calculating and rarely gives into anything other than rage. It's rather hard for me to fathom to be honest. But right now he's being sweet. A sweetness I did not expect from him. I have to monopolize that just for a little bit. Until he's done using me. Or until I believe it's real. To be honest, I haven't had a crush on someone in ages. Since before the world as you know it began. He died when I did. Died protecting me actually. We never got to marry, but I know that he loved me too." Selena cleaned as she explained. "I guess Alastor reminds me of those happier days. He was an oddball like Alastor too. Kinda weird, liked the battlefield. But most of all was devoted to those he chose. I guess that's why I'm drawn to him. He reminds me of what I treasured about home to a degree." She sighed. "I admit I'm using him to remember those feelings, but if Alastor genuinely liked me I would let him stay by my side. After all, a part of me loves him. But I don't doubt that he'll attempt to thwart Neana's plan at some point. I can't allow that. It's another reason I'm so cautious. However, I will say this. I do trust his friendship." She gave a bright smile.
"Huh. Not what I expected." Ryan listened intently. He was learning about Alastor's crush. Not sure if that'll go well. After all, he was backtracking on his deal with Alastor. A fact he was certain Alastor would not be happy about. Now the man he's trying to get away from's crush is blurting out her feelings to him. Boy was he in trouble.
"So did he bully you? I can go give him an earful if you want." She was in Ryan's face now. He was astonished. She wasn't there a second ago.
"No. No. Not bullying me." She gave a sigh of relief. "Don't tell him, but I'm trying to be redeemed as you very well know. I figured he wouldn't be happy about me backing out of the deal we made." Her face lit up.
"That was it?" She was starting to laugh. "Boy. I was worried. Ryan, Alastor has had this in his plan since the beginning. I imagine you accelerated it. He'll be fine. You worry too much!" She wrapped an arm around the demon.
"Wait! He planned for this?" Ryan was feeling anger, upset, and betrayal.
"Sorta. He figured from the person you were that Hell wasn't for you and wanted to give us an opportunity to redeem someone. He was going to keep his promise so long as you wanted it. But technically you'll be ascending the ranks of Hell by ascending to Heaven so he didn't lie to you." She smiled.
"I see." Ryan's tears began running down his face. He was so stressed about it. Turns out the Radio Demon wasn't so bad. He had accounted for Ryan to loathe Hell.
"Just work on redeeming yourself. If he gives you any trouble, I'll flick his forehead." That got a laugh from Ryan.
"Thank you." He smiled a genuine smile. After Ryan cleaned himself up, they continued their job. After an hour or two, Selena, Ryan, and Niffty had made it to the daunting fifth floor. It was time to clean.