Lesson 109- Sometimes people are annoying and sometimes you just have to deal with it.

One of the first people to turn up is Eli. He comes rushing into the room, hops over the bar and immediately sweeps me up into a hug. It doesn’t even occur to me that I should worry about his magic until he’s already let go with no incident. Torin has gotten to his feet and is glaring at Eli who holds his hands up defensively.
“Relax, I was careful not to touch her skin. Right Rina?” Eli says cheerfully. I don’t feel the effects of any magic so I suppose he was. I nod but Torin just continues to glare grumpily.
“Get back on the other side of the bar.” Torin orders. Eli rolls his eyes and climbs back over smoothly.
“Happy now? I just wanted to show Rina that I’m glad she’s okay.” Eli pouts, heading over towards where Torin is sitting. While I DO believe that Eli is glad I’m okay, I don’t think that is the real reason why he jumped the bar and hugged me. He just wanted to mess with Torin. I’m not particularly bothered by it though. I actually LIKE that Eli wants to mess with Torin, it means he isn’t scared of him. Sure enough, Eli drops down into the seat next to Torin who looks at him with a mixture of disbelief and disgust.
“What are you doing?” Torin asks warily. Eli shrugs.
“Sitting, hanging out, you know the usual.” He answers casually. Torin frowns.
“But why are you sitting HERE?” He demands. Eli laughs.
“Because we’re friends, obviously.” He answers bluntly and I mentally cheer. Torin looks horrified.
“We are NOT friends.” Torin argues, the same way he did when I accused him of being friends with Eli. Eli pouts dramatically and clasps a hand over his heart.
“Ouch, so cold. How can you say that? We’re totally besties. Besides, incubi are related to demons, so we’re practically brothers!” Eli adds with a grin. Now I know he’s just screwing with Torin. I doubt he considers them to be like brothers. But friends? Now that I believe. Torin just looks at him with absolute disgust. Yep, they are totally friends now, no doubt about it.

Half an hour later, Torin and Eli are still hanging out, but Torin looks about ready to murder Eli so I decide it’s time to go check in on them.
“I’m just saying, you’re a good looking guy. If you just smiled more I bet you could find someone to take home. Hell, you own a bar, you get plenty of chances to meet women.” Eli remarks. Torin just sighs and takes a sip of his drink. He has an entire bottle on the bar in front of him so apparently Eli has driven him to drink.
“I’m not trying to meet women.” Torin grumbles back and Eli rolls his eyes.
“Well that’s just no fun at all.” Eli complains.
“If I’m no fun, then maybe you should leave.” Torin says blandly. Eli looks up at him and bats his eyes dramatically.
“Would you mind terribly? I don’t want to abandon my bestie. You can totally be my wingman if you want.” He jokes. Torin just stares at him, his stony poker face in place.
“I guess not then. Wish me luck.” Eli grins at Torin then winks at me. I roll my eyes at him, but I can’t help smiling. Something tells me that Eli isn’t as ridiculous as he seems. He knows exactly what he’s doing in approaching Torin this way and he’s okay with it.

I step around the bar and take the seat that Eli vacated. I’m due for a break anyway.
“He’s right, you know, well partially. You are handsome, but not just when you smile.” I smile at Torin and he blinks in surprise. Sure, I know a relationship with him is a bad idea right now. But that doesn’t mean I can’t flirt a little. I mean he kissed me and that didn’t equal a relationship. So I don't see the harm. Okay, that’s a lie. I can see the potential harm, I just don’t care. This is sort of like my revenge. He won’t talk about that kiss, fine. But I’m not going to let him forget it either, even if I do have to remind him through indirect means.
“I… Uh… Thank you.” Torin answers, clearly baffled. I just keep smiling as if nothing happened.
“For real though, you’re doing well at dealing with Eli. I can tell he’s intentionally trying to press your buttons. Probably just to prove to people that you’re not going to just go off on a whim and murder everyone. He is trying to help, at least I’m pretty sure he is.” I add. Torin sighs, clearly doubtful, but apparently already recovered from my telling him he’s handsome. I decide to push it a little more. I reach out and run a hand slowly down his arm.
“Is there a reason you don’t want to play wingman for Eli?” I ask with a smirk. Torin freezes up and narrows his eyes at me. I just keep smiling.
“I’m just not interested.” He answers softly. I raise an eyebrow.
“Really? You’re not interested in anyone?” I drag out the word anyone and let my hand rest on his forearm. This time Torin doesn’t freeze. He moves his hand out from under mine, twists it around and grabs my hand, holding it firmly, but gently.
“What are you doing Rina?” He asks, his voice low.
“I’m not doing anything.” I answer immediately. Torin huffs out a breath.
“You know you are. Why are you acting like this?” He demands.
“I don’t know Tori, maybe it’s an accident.” I answer with a straight face. He narrows his eyes. He’s caught on to what I’m referring to. If he can say that kissing me was an accident, why can’t I say that flirting is an accident too?
“We can talk about it if you want to.” I add. Torin sits up straight and lets go of my hand.
“No, that’s fine.” He answers quickly. I smirk, yeah that’s what I thought.

I sit with Torin for a little longer before getting back to work. There’s a customer waiting by the bar that I don’t recognise which is actually fairly rare at this point. I’ve been here long enough that I recognise most of the regulars fairly easily. It’s always fun to meet new people and since this is the only chance I actually get to do that right now, I eagerly approach him. I can only describe the way he looks as wholesome. Like he totally looks like he could be working on one of those terrible kids shows where they dress in bright colours and randomly sing while trying to teach kids stuff. The guy is in a bar and he’s wearing a pale purple sweater. I don’t know this guy, but I would totally trust him with my kids, that is if I actually had any.
“Hey there, can I get you something to drink?” I offer cheerfully.
“Hmm, do you sell anything non-alcoholic? I’m not much of a drinker.” The guy tells me. His voice is very gentle and he gives me a slight smile that tells me he knows it’s weird to come to a bar and ask for a non alcoholic drink.
“Sure, we have a few options.” I rattle off a list of the non-alcoholic drinks we stock. Most of them are things we use as mixers, but I’ve been making up prices for drinks here since day one, why stop now? Once I’ve given the guy his drink, I hover curiously.
“I’m Rina by the way, the resident human. What’s your name?”
“Andrew Bloodreaper.” He answers with a wry grin. He clearly knows that his name really doesn’t suit him. Still, I can’t help but point it out.
“I can’t imagine anyone less suited to the name ‘Bloodreaper’ than you.” I tell him bluntly with a laugh. Andrew shrugs at me.
“I took my wife’s name when we got married. I used to be named Andrew Phillips. But my wife insisted that she worked hard for her reputation, and I wanted us to share a last name so here I am.” He explains.
“That’s actually super sweet. Also I totally want to meet your wife!” I say eagerly. Andrew nods easily.
“Sure, she should be here soon. She was just finishing up a job, so I figured I’d meet her here. I felt like going out. She texted, she should be here anytime now.” He promises. I have to fight the urge to squeal with glee. I can’t wait to meet the woman with the apparently scary reputation that married this softie. I get the feeling that I’m going to love her.