Jade woke up to utter silence. The smell of blood was faint. Old. It dried on her mouth and the body still impaled on her claws. She felt the weight of it and looked down. She had eaten to the bone, spinal cord exposed and scraped by her teeth. The body hung limply, the head hanging back. She searched for something to feel, but she felt nothing. Slowly, she set down the corpse and freed her claws. Dried blood clung to them too. She didn't wipe them clean. A sound drew her attention to someone huddled by the door. The familiar scent came to her. Tori.
Jade could only imagine how she must have felt when she walked through that door to see a stone beast frozen in time, the blood of its victim dripping from its mouth and the mangled body hanging from its claws. How long had it been since Tori arrived? Jade stepped over the body at her feet and descended the stairs, absently wiping at her face with her arm. She could feel her body mending. Two bites were enough to shrink most of the wounds and stop them from bleeding. She crouched in front of Tori and waited, as still as the statue she had returned from. Tori eventually looked up from resting her head on her bent knees.
"I can't apologize," Jade mumbled, eyes downcast. She didn't like the thought of Tori possibly disgusted by her, but she did what she had to. It was just unfortunate that the human walked in on it. She seemed to understand though because she nodded slowly.
"I know," Tori replied softly.
"Let's go home," Jade said, holding out a clawed hand. And even though it was still red with death, Tori took it. Jade helped her up, a feeling of relief settling in her. They would be okay. Together they left the mansion and walked a few miles on foot. Just until Jade could fully heal. It would have been almost instantaneous had she devoured Beck. As soon as her wings were able to handle added weight, she took to the sky. It took a little longer to get home. Tori required more breaks than Jade did. Jade busied herself with tending to Tori. They didn't speak much, each digesting the life-threatening events in their own way. They spoke only when necessary. Returning home was strange after everything they went through. Jade made sure to drop Tori off at her dorm in the dead of night so that she could clean up and throw away her torn clothes. She would have a cover story ready by tomorrow.
Jade returned home to do the same, but she wagered that she was doing far better than Tori. Beck was gone. His family was already disbanded. If Tori still wanted her then she would make up for everything. If not…well, she hoped she could find someone else who was willing to take her place. An unbound demon was a surefire way to get dragged back to the Otherworld where she belonged. The next night she returned to the college to explain her sudden absence. She told them that she had a family emergency to attend to out of the country. It was close to the truth. They allowed her to keep her job, but warned that if she did it again, that was it. She assured them she wouldn't.
With her true nature hidden once more, things fell back into place. Boring but safe. She didn't seek out Tori. She resolved to let the human recover on her own time and come around when she was ready. If she had to be honest with herself, she was nervous to see Tori again. It wasn't everyday a human fell for a monster that ate people on a day-to-day basis. Stranger still to get dragged halfway across the world by the previous master of said monster, tortured because of that relationship, rescued, and then subjected to the horror of that monster killing everything and everyone in the name of returning the human to safety. Jade wouldn't be at all surprised if the reason she hadn't seen Tori around was because the girl moved far away from her. Yet she knew that wasn't true because she would have felt the distance between them. So she continued to wait, hopeful but not expectant.
It was months later, on a chilly weekend night, when the monotonous pattern of everyday life broke. Jade was mindlessly walking through the park, visiting it occasionally since returning home. She figured that if something new was to happen, it had to happen where it all began. And she didn't want to believe it, but she was right. Because as she walked the winding path, a scent came to her on the wind. A familiar scent that never failed to draw her in. Slightly different from what it used to be, but still unmistakable. She looked up from staring at the ground to see Tori walking down the path toward her.
The human was already aware she was there, her steps purposeful. Jade stopped walking. Her eyes locked on Tori moving steadily closer. She suddenly felt anxious. She was glad to see her, but worried she was only going to tell her that she didn't want to see her again. She scoffed at such a human worry, reprimanding herself. Why should she care if Tori didn't want to see her again? There were others who would gladly cut a deal with her. It didn't have to be this particular human. But while she was busy admonishing herself, she wasn't prepared for Tori to pull her into a welcoming embrace. All thought ceased and she returned it.
"I missed you," Tori whispered, breath visible in the cool air. Jade shivered, feeling the absence Tori spoke of. It was quickly disappearing.
"I missed you too," she replied, truthful. Tori tightened her hold.
"I'm sorry I avoided you. I needed time. After we got back, I was essentially grounded for taking off on what my parents thought was a romantic getaway and scaring them when I stopped answering my phone. They rarely let me out of their sight. They saw that I got hurt and thought the worst had happened. Trina's situation didn't help things. She was arrested for everything she did with Beck. Her case is pending so I don't know the extent of the charges yet. The police are still searching for Beck, we both know they aren't going to find him," she said, tone a bit sad. Trina might have been in the wrong, but she was still Tori's sister. Jade pulled back to look at her, taking in her sad frown.
"I understand. I'm sorry for putting you through that," she responded, a hand resting on Tori's cheek. She searched for any sign of a lingering wound. A scar of some sort. But luckily, Tori healed unscathed. The hope she locked away began to take shape and she cleared her throat, dropping her hand and taking a step back.
"I didn't think you would want anything to do with me. I wouldn't blame you," she continued, feeling a bit more levelheaded now that there was some space between them. Tori held onto her hand though, unwilling to let her go far.
"As stupid as you might think humans are, I knew what I was signing up for," Tori said, a bit scolding. Jade smirked.
"I never said you were stupid," she pointed out.
"You didn't have to," Tori retorted, squeezing her hand. Jade chuckled, giving into her charm.
"What now?" she asked, meeting Tori's eyes with her own. The human smiled.
"Wanna watch a movie?" she suggested. It threw Jade off.
"Excuse me?" she inquired.
"I'm asking you out on a date. Who's the stupid one now?" Tori taunted playfully. Jade snatched her hand away.
"It's still you for agitating me," she snapped.
"Pfft, like you'd do anything. Do you want to go see a movie with me or not?" Tori asked again, waiting for a response without a care in the world. A light smile pulled at her lips. Jade's jaw clenched, refusing to find the girl endearing.
"What if I say no?" she finally asked.
"Then I guess I'll try again some other time," Tori answered with a shrug. Jade's brows creased. She would try again. She wouldn't give up. Jade didn't know how to respond.
"Your kind doesn't malfunction with too much affection, does it?" Tori checked, laughing when Jade shot her a scowl. She was silenced by Jade pushing her back until she was pinned against the thick glass of the park directory. Her breath hitched at the feel of Jade's cool body pressed to hers, lips inches away from her own.
"We function just fine with affection. Although, I'm pretty sure I've heard of humans dying of excitement," Jade husked, her nose nuzzling Tori's jaw and her lips pressing a kiss to her neck. She smirked at the full body shudder she caused.
"That, uh, shouldn't be a problem until I'm way older," Tori stammered. Jade pulled back to shoot her a raised brow.
"You see us lasting that long?" she questioned.
"I hope so," Tori muttered, shy. Jade took in the blush on her cheeks. She was beautiful, staring at her with so much hope and affection. It made her feel warm in a way she hadn't felt before. And yet, she couldn't help but tease the human.
"I can't be seen in a relationship with an old lady, Vega. That's just weird," she said with a shake of her head. Tori hit her for the comment. Jade barely felt the blow to her arm. Tori, however, whined and held her hand.
"I keep forgetting you're basically made of stone," she groaned, checking on her hand.
"Thank you," Jade said, smiling softly.
"That wasn't a compliment," Tori grumbled, looking up from her flexing hand. Jade took it in her own, messaging it with gentle strokes of her thumb.
"No, I meant thank you for forgetting," Jade elaborated.
"Oh," Tori gasped, understanding what she meant.
"When we're together, I forget too," Jade said. Tori smiled.
"So how about that date?" she tried again. Jade laughed, amused at her gall. Tori was amazed to hear such a sound come from someone who was usually so stoic.
"Yes, I would love to see a movie with you," Jade accepted, pulling Tori into motion again.
"Awesome. Do you have anything in mind or just whatever we can find playing soon?" Tori asked, pulling out her phone with her free hand and searching for times.
"It doesn't matter what time if you don't mind me sleeping over if we're out late," Jade replied, smirking when Tori's blush returned. Clearly their thoughts were on the same memory.
"I-I have to be up early tomorrow," Tori said, looking away. Jade dropped her hand to snake an arm around Tori's waist and pull her closer.
"Alarms wake people up late every day," she suggested. Tori nodded, swallowing hard. Jade's eyes dropped to her lips then flicked up to meet her eyes. Tori watched as gray irises bloomed blue-green and danced like the waves of the sea. She knew what it meant. She had seen it before. Excitement. Desire. Possibly love. She liked to think so.
"Yeah, I guess I could be late," Tori breathed out. Jade cupped her jaw and pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead.
"I'm sure you could," Jade said, moving them along again. They remained close the whole way to the theater and throughout the movie. Tori was the one to pull her along afterward. Jade wanted the human to make the first move. She wanted her to be sure. Tori was more than sure if the way she kissed Jade against the closed dorm room door was any indication. They took a break from their activities to rest and were able to continue unhindered when the sun was up.
Tori loved how Jade's skin felt against hers after she spent some time enjoying the sun's rays coming in from the window. It was like sun-warmed stone, a deep comforting warmth. Jade was enamored with how different she felt with Tori. She was bound to her, yet she was free. Captured but not contained like she had been before. She hadn't noticed the sun then, nor did she care to lose it when she ran away. She had gone so long without seeing it she accepted that she never would again. Cursed by stone to live in darkness as her punishment. But then she met Tori and she was seeing the sun. She wouldn't make the mistake of letting it go again.