Page 6 of How Not to Charm Your Human Colleague (Falling for Demons #2)

RUNE-ING THE MOMENT

Kizros

H umans had an interesting concept of rest.

Kizros had kept the shop closed for the remainder of the afternoon, instead puttering about the apartment cleaning. It’s not like he had woken that morning with intentions of bringing someone back to his apartment. And it had been months since he’d had to live in the space with another.

Except Aofe wasn’t just someone , was she? She was a human, a colorful and interesting one, and she was living with him . She was just beyond that wall, poking about in her new bedchamber.

It gave him the perfect opportunity to… well, it wasn’t spying .

It was simply… paying closer attention whenever a no ise came from inside her room.

She did have those crutches, and with how exhausted she’d looked when he’d given a tour of the living area and kitchen, it was his duty to make sure she didn’t fall.

Right? That’s what he was making sure of as he pressed an ear to her bedchamber wall.

He’d snuck in while she’d run the bath, dropping off a pile of clothing at the edge of the bed, but now he regretted not leaving a glass of water or some food.

He’d secretly hoped she’d come back out for dinner, seeing as it was only early evening, but there was only heavy breathing coming from inside. Asleep.

Kizros wasn’t disappointed , really, but when she was still sleeping the next morning, he reminded himself this was a good thing.

He knew humans didn’t have the same stamina as demons, let alone after the traumatic events to bring her into their realm.

They were smaller, more fragile—even if Aofe claimed it was an insult.

How awful would it be if he broke the human on her first day in Heck?

So when she’d come nearly tumbling downstairs an hour later in a rush, shirt on backward and blue hair sticking up in every direction, he’d promptly turned her right around.

“You can take a day, Aofe,” he’d said, pushing her gently back toward the stairs. Not that he didn’t want her company, but he was relieved she accepted. It gave him time to prepare the shop. Get some commissions done before he worried about training her.

Which should not have been a worry, because the following day when he did let her into his workroom, she’d been familiar with the basics beyond what he’d expected.

“It’s not formal,” Aofe reminded him, grinding the mortar and pestle.

It wasn’t strong, and it would take several more strokes to turn the leaves into the right consistency, but her hands fell into the pattern easily.

“I was in and out of infirmaries a lot. I got to know some of the nurses and… alchemists, I guess you’d call them.

They showed me some things while I was waiting so I wouldn’t be bored. ”

“You were there alone?” Kizros asked, offended on her behalf.

While he didn’t know the full extent of her disability, she’d given him the basics after he’d asked…

perhaps a little too forcefully, but he assumed she’d have some kind of support.

Still, she hadn’t closed herself off with those answers like she suddenly did at this question.

“Yes.”

As clueless as he sometimes was, Kizros was desperate for this human’s words, and he could tell this was not the conversation she was ready to have with a relative stranger.

He didn’t know what it was about her—the color, the bluntness, the dedication she was already showing to her work—but he was drawn to it.

He ached to fill the silence she left, but not so much that he made her feel trapped.

“Would you like to learn a rune?”

Aofe perked up, former shadows gone from her face as she beamed up at him. “Really?”

Well, now he was slightly regretting the offer. What if she wanted to know the rune for unlocking her protection cuff? What if she resented him when he said no? What if he didn’t have the spine to say no, and she left him?

“A preservation rune, for the contraceptive you’re making,” he amended.

Kizros had gathered the ingredients she’d requested, making substitutes where demon plant life suited the potion better. He wasn’t sure how humans could ingest such awful flavors, but perhaps their sense of taste was different. He’d have to ask to look at her tongue later.

“Runes are magic?” she asked, watching with interest as he took the stool next to her.

He grabbed the vial she’d be using, running a thumb over the seal where they would write the rune. “It’s one of my specialties, actually.”

In the past, he’d been a little too proud of that fact.

Boasted a little too often before he realized that not everyone wanted to listen to him talk for thirty minutes on the intricacies of soil composition or how the star charts played into some of the more challenging aspects of an earth-bound magic like runes.

But Aofe was looking at him with… well, he hoped it was genuine interest. He was still adjusting to how expressive her eyes could be with that bright blue against whites.

“So, there are a few different types. Some that offer protection,” Kizros said, nodding toward her bracelet, “and others, like with Tim, that just help with containing him in his pot. He’s surly if you don’t set boundaries.”

She grinned, wide enough that all her blunt teeth showed and the ring between her nostrils shifted.

It was a nice smile, non-threatening in a good way, and it made her eyes crinkle at the edges.

Despite the oddness of her freckled skin—which he assumed the sickly, paling shade was normal for humans—he could still admire that everything about her round face was pleasant to look at.

Aofe cleared her throat. “You’re staring again.”

Kizros adjusted his glasses, willing his cheeks not to blush in embarrassment. “Yes, well, the protection rune in your bracelet is more basic, meant to keep you within a boundary by reversing the effect of the boundary runes of Heck.”

“So the runes set at the border of the city… keep things out?” she guessed.

He grinned, pleasantly surprised at her quick wit. “Exactly. The Veilwood is habitable, and I have a friend who lives beyond the border, but there are large beasts and other manner of creatures that can find their way close to our city. Those runes keep our homes safe.”

“So why do you need guards? The ones who brought us in?”

“For those beasts who get a little too close, some regular policing of Heck, but also to scout the Dreadmoor beyond. It’s a liminal space, and things can get lost between—both harmful and harmless. That’s where they found you.”

Aofe shivered. “We were always told to fear the forest, to fear the demons within.” She tugged the sleeves of her tunic back over her wrists, and Kizros ached to see her making herself so small. “To know that demons also fear it… is not reassuring.”

“You’re safe with me—here!” Kizros blurted quickly. “I mean, you’re safe, here, in Heck.”

Her expression pinched, but he could see the makings of a smile as she ducked her head. “So, runes?”

He swallowed, shaking his head to distract himself away from the fascinating and intelligent creature sitting next to him.

“Yes, runes. It’s all about a flow and precision sweep of a mark.

To activate one, they need to be drawn in exact order, so let’s start with a simple preservation rune.

This one will allow your contraceptive to remain potent for several months. ”

It turned out, the simple rune was not, in fact, simple.

Humans were capable of runes; that wasn’t an issue. Nor was what they were doing human sorcery —that disgusting bastardization of magic.

The magic in this realm was finicky, in the sense of even the slightest misstep resulted in null effects, unlike sorcery which ended in fiery explosions and missing limbs. But even a breath wrong or a swipe of the rune just slightly misaligned could make the rune ineffective.

Aofe’s problem was the latter. It was one of those moments where Kizros had just enough social knowledge to recognize that pointing out her inability to keep a stable hand was what kept her from completing the preservation etchings.

He’d heard all manner of words whispered under her breath—not exactly curses, as he’d noticed she’d yet to speak one, just some softened word to express her frustration.

“That’s okay,” Kiz reassured her when she failed yet again. He could see the defeat weighing heavier on her shoulders the longer they worked at it, but at this rate, she might not be able to hold the quill much longer if she continued to force it. “Why don’t we come back to it tomorrow?”

Her brows squished together, lips twisting in disappointment as her hand shook on the quill. “I’m sorry. I really do understand the concept, and it’s not your instructions, I promise?—”

Kizros placed a hand over hers, feeling the little tremor running through her fingers.

“Aofe, it’s okay. You needed to let the mixture sit overnight anyway.

We can brainstorm ways to make it not taste as awful, or I have a commission I can let you do.

I’ll step in at the end for the runes, but those ones are a little more thorough. ”

Her worry receded, surprise flashing in her gaze. “I can do one on my own?”

“Sure, it’s—” He almost said simple, then thought better of it. “I’ll get the ingredients.”

When he set them out on the table and placed the parchment with the steps in front of her, her surprise and excitement had dimmed into something else. Possibly nervousness, with the way she kept curling her arms around herself.

“Just follow those, and it’ll be fine,” Kizros said, confident in letting her take charge. He’d seen her meticulous and focused grinding, the precise way she measured ingredients, and the care she gave in each stir of the potions. This one, despite what he’d said about the rune, really was simple.

Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. “You’re leaving?” Quickly, she shook her head and focused back on the paper. “I mean, sure, yes. I’ve got this.”

Kizros glanced out the doorway to the empty shop.

It was late, but he was technically still open.

Yet for most of the day, things had been…

quiet. Quiet in a way that made a little nervousness settle in his belly.

Not that he was or would be struggling after a single day of slow business, but a little curious that on one of his typically busy days, the bell over the door had barely chimed.

So the options were to stand out front of an empty shop, or stay back here and watch the blue-haired human work. No other reason. Nothing to do with the strange pull he felt around her.

He turned back to Aofe with a smile he famously wore at family dinner. “I could… supervise. I’m not that busy.”

Aofe’s cheeks gained a little color as she looked up at him. “Oh. I suppose, if you aren’t busy. You could… read the instructions to me? You know, since you know them. It would be faster.”

A smile tilted his lips, feeling a lightness overtake that ugly twist in his gut from moments ago. “Right. For time’s sake.”

“And you’ll be right here for that last step with the runes,” she added .

“It’s all in the name of efficiency,” Kizros agreed, gesturing toward the first ingredients. “Alright, step one…”

Kizros had never seen such a smooth process, watching how Aofe immersed herself in the steps.

There was a flow of energy that she channeled, one he felt tugging at his core.

She was deliberate, not entirely flawless, but in a way that said she understood her body and what it could do.

When an ingredient was out of reach, she knew just where to place her feet and hands to lean and grab it.

When she fumbled something, there was always an extra finger or a braced elbow to keep anything from breaking.

Aofe lost herself in the work, and so did Kizros.

Between steps, he talked to her about runes, about the soil of his favorite plants, about his friend Ragnar who was a giant grump but had a soft spot for beasts that no one else would ever consider going near, let alone raising.

She laughed at jokes Tholvich had rolled his eyes at, asked about his favorite things to do in Heck, and let him rant about human sorcery which took all the beauty of magic and turned it into destruction.

He’d barely noticed they were on the final step when he saw the slight shake of her hand. The vial lid was narrow, and after all the things she’d had to mix, etch, and measure today, she had to have been exhausted. He’d have to remember tomorrow not to work her at his pace all day.

Kizros swept in, steadying her arms before she could drop the glass and all her hard work.

He guided her hands to cap the potion, then let his forefinger claw extend to draw the rune.

It was swift, just a couple swipes of the sharpest nail point on the glass, and then it was glowing green.

It faded just as quickly, and he let out a satisfied hum.

“Done, and some excellent work, I must say.” He grinned, looking down at her.

Aofe was staring at him, mouth parted.

Blazes, had he broken her? He tried to quickly calculate what damage was done.

His body was caging her into the counter, but it was only a proximity.

The only touch he’d offered her… well, he was still offering it.

Her hands were still cupped in his, arms dwarfed by his own as he somewhat cradled her body.

She was seated at the stool, but even crouching, he was much larger than her, able to look down and see all the freckles dusting her pierced nose.

The soft plump lip she tugged between her teeth. The brighter pink of her cheeks.

So… not broken.

“You’re staring,” he said, voice rough.

She blinked, then swallowed quickly and turned back. “Sorry, just…”

Aofe withdrew her hands from his, slowly enough it made Kizros wonder if she had enjoyed his lingering touch. But then she sucked in a breath, and a smile overtook her features. It was warm enough he almost didn’t miss her touch, or the comfort that she’d shown with him being so close.

“That was exciting,” Aofe breathed. “We could do another? ”

Kizros laughed, relieved that her earlier disappointment with the runes hadn’t ruined the entire day. “Perhaps tomorrow. It’s well past closing, and my stomach has been aching for dinner.”

The promise of food was enough to have them locking the shop and heading upstairs, but the lingering coolness of her skin on his lasted well beyond the meal.