Lesson 125- Forgiving people is hard at the time but less work than hating someone.
“Who? Give me a name.” Torin demands. Richard sighs.
“I don’t know his whole name, but I heard others there address him as Solem. Do you know him?” Richard asks suspiciously. Torin frowns.
“I know of him. But I haven’t met him myself. I’m… Not one for socialising. Besides, he’s much older than I am. I’m not sure how old exactly, but he was already ancient when I was born.” Torin grumbles. Huh, until this moment I never considered a demon’s lifespan. How old is ancient exactly? How long is Torin going to live for? This raises a whole new collection of questions. But now probably isn’t the right time to interrogate Tori about the life cycle of a demon. Right now, I want to hear more about this Solem guy.
“What does this other demon want with me anyway? I certainly don’t know him so I doubt I’ve done anything to piss him off. And I don’t owe him a debt or anything. I don’t owe anyone at all.” I point out. Richard just shrugs.
“No idea, but he seems to think he’s entitled to you, the same way he believed he was entitled to me when I owed him. He didn’t exactly explain his reasoning to me. It was more a ‘do as you’re told, or else’ type of situation. You know how demons are, I doubt that he has anything good in mind for you.” He adds darkly. I raise an eyebrow.
“I know how demons are? Well what if I don’t? My best friend is a demon. So clearly I don’t think so poorly of them in general as a species. So far, the species that has endangered me the most is kelpies.” I say pointedly, smiling at Torin who smiles right back at me. Richard huffs out a breath.
“Only on the order of a demon! He’s more responsible for what happened than I am.” He objects.
“Kelpies are dangerous creatures in their own right, and they have a history of using their magic to magically bind people to them, the way you did when Rina wasn’t able to escape your grasp, then they drown them.” Torin comments flatly. Clearly unimpressed. Richard frowns.
“That is a total stereotype. Just because a few bad kelpies acted that way some time ago, doesn’t mean we’re all like that!” Richard objects, sounding highly offended. I can’t help but laugh.
“That’s a bit hypocritical, don’t you think? Kelpies aren’t all bad, but everyone knows how demons are.” I comment. Richard pauses, seeming to rethink his next argument. Then he sighs and nods.
“I suppose you’re right. I take that statement back. As for Solem, he is not a good person. He enjoys keeping others under his thumb and the power that accompanies it. He treats his underlings poorly, confides in no one and trusts no one but himself. He looks out for himself and no one else. Or at very least if he does care about anyone he hides it well.” He concludes. Well damn, that doesn’t sound good.
We talk for a while longer, but Richard really doesn’t know much about his ex-boss Solem other than the few orders he was given about me. He wasn’t even told my actual name. Just that I’m the human bartender here and that he needed to bring me straight to Solem. He found out my name himself, talking to other customers and collecting gossip. I don’t really know how much he learned about me that way, but apparently I’m a fairly popular topic of conversation here. How thrilling… Once Torin is done interrogating him, Richard sort of sits there uncomfortably. Shuffling in his seat. He looks up at me.
“So… Am I about to be killed? Or thrown out of here on my ass?” Richard asks me nervously. I frown. Why is he asking ME? Surely he knows I can’t do anything to him. If anyone was going to harm him, it would be Torin. Unless he really believes what he said earlier, that I have Torin ‘wrapped around my little finger.’ Does he really think that’s how things work? Either way, he wants an answer from me. Do I forgive him, or not? Is he welcome here, or not? I suppose what it really comes down to is do I feel safe having him around here. Strangely enough, I do.
“Alright. Well, since you apologised and everything, I suppose I can forgive you.” I respond with a shrug. Richard grins widely while Torin whips around to stare at me.
“What did you just say?” He demands, sounding less than impressed.
“I said I’ll forgive him. There was no lasting harm done after all, and he has no actual reason to want to hurt me now. Actually, it seems like he hates this Solem guy. I doubt he plans to do him any more favours.” I explain. Torin still seems unhappy. He shakes his head.
“No way. He can’t be here.” I don’t want him anywhere near you.” He insists. I give a small smile. He’s being all worried about me again. It’s sweet, but in this case it feels unnecessary.
“Tori, we can’t just throw him out. He’s hurt. Besides, there’s no reason to keep hating him, it’s a lot of energy to hate someone and I just can’t be bothered.” I explain. Torin just shakes his head no. I reach out and take his hand, tugging him towards the back door.
“Let’s talk in private for a minute or two.” I prompt. Torin sighs and glances at Laura.
“Watch him.” He orders. She nods firmly and keeps her eyes focussed on Richard. I lead Tori out to the back and close the door behind us.
“You can’t just… Forgive him!” Torin objects, as soon as we have privacy. I sigh
“Tori, I can either have a new friend or a new enemy. I would much rather have a friend.” I say firmly. He frowns.
“But he-” I cut him off.
“Everyone makes mistakes Torin. That doesn’t mean they can’t learn from them and it doesn’t mean I can’t forgive them.” I remind him. He shakes his head.
“Mistakes, yes. But not everyone tries to KIDNAP someone!” He argues. I laugh.
“No, some people just put binding spells on people and confiscate their phones.” I say pointedly. Torin freezes, blinks, then swears under his breath.
“Point taken.” He grumbles unhappily.
“It’ll be fine Tori, I really don’t think he’s so bad. Besides, It’s not like I’m inviting him to a pyjama party. Just letting him hang out in the bar. You’re always here with me anyway.” I remind him, which seems to reassure him a little.
“Fine.” He responds, he’s a bit snippy with it, but I don’t mind. I’m still holding his hand so I squeeze it reassuringly.
“Come on, let’s go back in.”
We head back in and find Laura watching on, kind of bemused as Crash kneads at Richard’s lap. Richard is wincing, but doesn’t resist. Then Crash curls up on his knee, purring.
“See Tori? Crash likes him. How bad can he be?” I say cheerfully. Torin narrows his eyes at Richard. He releases my hand, storms around the bar and stops right in front of a rather nervous looking Richard. Then he reaches down, and gently but firmly, picks Crash up and places him on his own shoulder. Then he comes straight back to me. He’s practically pouting when he says,
“Yeah, well he likes me more.”
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