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“Go wisely and slowly.
Those who rush stumble and fall.”
Friar Laurence, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Sparda began to show up more and more over the next six months. It didn’t matter that Eva had moved thrice in that time, he always found her. Soon enough, whenever she wasn’t on a job with Michel, she was on a job with Sparda. It wasn’t that she hated it, in fact, she actually enjoyed in- though she hated to admit it.
Though somehow, despite that, Michel and Sparda had never actually met each other. Which didn’t really bug Eva, because she was pretty sure she’d have to sit and listen to Michel flirting- something Sparda would probably not understand- and it was already bad enough that she had to listen to him talk on and on about boys in general. A fact of life that she sometimes, was still getting used to.
That was what he was doing one day, when they were sitting in her apartment. She’d gotten another chair, so that there was more room to sit than just the coach- not at all because she sometimes found it too hard to sit on the couch with Sparda so close- so her and Michel sat on the couch, while Michel babbled on about this “cute boy I met the other day”. They didn’t really have anything to do that day, it was in the evening and they didn’t have any demon hunting jobs. They were still recovering from one they did the night before.
“So this boy- Jeremey- and I hang out at the café for a while. Talk about this and that… You know, the normal.” Michel babbled on, even though he was well aware Eva wasn’t paying all that much attention to him.
“Yes, the normal,” She replies in disinterest. This was such a common occurrence, she often just used the same responses. Michel seemed to ready himself to continue with his story, though he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“You expecting someone?”
“Not that I know of…” She get’s up, heading to the door. With a slight pause- one only to think who might visit her- she yanks the door open. She was greeted with someone’s chest… Er, more specifically it was Sparda, who was a good head taller than her.
Michel makes some noise behind her, though she’d not sure what. Eva raises her head to look at Sparda, because that’s the only way she’d make eye contact. “What…? I was not expecting you to show up.”
“I decided to pay you a visit, is that alright, Milady?” Michel snickered behind her, holding in laughter at Sparda.
“Uh, yeah sure, come it then…” Sparda walked in, taking a seat in the chair, eyeing Michel with interest. Michel grinned in response as Eva made her way around to sit next to him on the couch. “Sparda, this is Michel, my demon hunting partner, Michel-“
“Oh, so this is Bug-boy?” Eva blushed, very annoyed that she’d referred to Sparda as that once around Michel, and he just would not drop it. Of course, he didn’t stop there, “You’re right, he is handsome.”
“Michel!” She pulled Scuro off of the coffee table, aiming it at him, “What the hell? One time!” To their side,- which was where the other chair was located- Sparda watched them, confused. They were an odd pair, in his eyes and he was unsure what to think of Michel.
Michel holds his hands up in surrender, which he had found is a more common occurrence around Eva than any demon. “Please no shooting,” he said, “Just having fun, Eva, you know me.”
Eva lowers Scuro, placing it back into the coffee table, “Yeah, I do know you, and I know you’ll do or say something embarrassing.”
Michel gives a sheepish smile, then turns his attention back to Sparda, “So how come you’ve known Eva for over half a year, and we’ve still never met before now?” It was a good question, one that even Eva didn’t have an answer for. As far as it seemed, she just only ever ran into Sparda when Michel wasn’t around. He only ever seemed to visit when Michel wasn’t around. It was just how things always seemed to work out. She hadn’t thought there was any other reason.
Sparda cocked his head, “I’m not sure. Perhaps it was just luck.”
“Good or bad?” Michel asked, a dark glare in his eyes. It was then Eva realized what he was doing. He was interrogating Sparda, which was a bit embarrassing, to say the least. Michel was like the brother she never had, that’s why they teased each other the way they did. It just never occurred to Eva that he might try to interrogate Sparda.
“Whether it is good or bad has yet to be decided, though I must say, I can see why Lady Eva speaks of you so fondly.” Sparda had chose his words carefully, Eva could tell. He was unsure what Michel thought was the correct answer, so avoided the options for a alternative. Then he threw some flattery into the mix to make Michel be less intent on possibly killing him.
“Hm, I can see why Eva likes you so much,” Michel leaned back, a smirk on his face. Eva groaned at his comment, because she just knew what he was thinking. Michel at least seemed to be much more relaxed, as he decided to forego the interrogation for flirting with Sparda instead.
Sparda clearly didn’t understand that he was being flirted with, which didn’t surprise Eva- she had long since given up trying to make him understand flirting, instead just bearing with his unintentional flirting. He took Michel’s compliments in stride, but whenever Michel used a less obvious form of flirting- like pick-up lines- she noticed Sparda would send a quizzical glance in her direction. She’d give him a small shrug and continue watching idly.
Normally, when Michel flirted with people around her, Eva wasn’t horribly bugged. She’d either ignore it and mind her own business, or watch awkwardly from the side. Regardless, it never really mattered to her. But now, as she sat next to him while he was flirting with Sparda, she found that it was really rather annoying. Maybe it was just because Michel was flirting with her friend- which she wasn’t even sure should really bug her- but Eva was feeling some strange emotions.
With a grumble she got up from the couch, causing Michel to stop mid-sentence, he and Sparda looking at her. While Michel looked at her confused, with a bit of concern, Sparda merely gazed at her impassively, as he often did. A small smile, meant only to reassure them, graced her face. So no one would know that beneath that smile, an annoyed Eva stood.
“I’m just going to run to the bathroom,” She explained, waving her hand at them dismissively. “Nothing to worry about,”
“Ah,” Michel peered at her, “Right, okay.” It seemed even he could tell something was off. So from there, Eva sat on the floor of the bathroom, trying desperately to sort out her emotions. Really, she shouldn’t even care that Michel was flirting with Sparda. Michel flirts with just about every male over the age of eighteen he meets. So why did it make her so, so, mad?
Or, maybe not so much mad as just really annoyed. Really irritated. It bubbled in her like a volcano about to explode. But what could she do? Ask Michel to stop? He’d ask why, and how could she explain her feelings? How could she explain the annoyance she had at him for flirting with Sparda, whom she declares is nothing more than a friend?
With a groan Eva hauled herself up, deciding that she really couldn’t hide in there for much longer, not without someone getting suspicious. She’d just have to deal with Michel’s flirting, something that she wasn’t sure she could do, but was going to damn well try. She walked out, seeing that Sparda and Michel were actually having a normal conversation. It seems Michel decided to dial down the flirting.
Sparda stood as she approached, “Ah, Lady Eva. I’m sorry to leave in such a hurry, but I have other things I must tend to.”
Eva giggled slightly at that, severely doubting that he had anything much better to be doing. But regardless she didn’t say a word about it, “Right, well then, I’ll be seeing you.” With that, she watched him walk out the door. Michel had switched seats, now sitting in the chair, and watched her flop onto the coach.
“Did you have to do that?” She groaned, arms and legs splayed. At first she wasn’t sure Michel understood what she was talking about, but it became clear by the laugh he gave that he did.
“Do what? Flirt with him?” His voice was cheeky, allowing her to tell the look on his face without even opening her eyes. He no doubt had a cheeky look on his face, for he was undoubtedly teasing her. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous,”
Eva opened her eyes to peek at him, “Why would I be jealous?” She couldn’t be jealous of him flirting with Sparda if she had no feelings for him. And it seemed pretty obvious to her that she had no feelings for the strange demon.
“Because,” Michel stated, in such a plain voice that he was trying to greatly imply that whatever was about to follow was supposed to be obvious. “You like him. And don’t deny it. It’s obvious.”
Was it? Was it so obvious that she had a tiny little crush on an undeniably handsome man? She didn’t think it was obvious. Even then, that’s all it was, wasn’t it? Just a silly little crush, a seed that was never going to sprout into a flowering bush, let alone a flowering tree. It’d get just a few inches high, maybe a bit more, and then it’d shrivel up and die. The fact that the seed of the crush still lived, even after several months, baffled Eva more than anything.
“It’s… it’s just a little crush, Michel… Nothing big…” Despite her best insistence, Michel still stared at her, unconvinced by her response. Truthfully, even she didn’t fully believe it.
“Little, sure.” He snorted, “Try big, Eva. Please, just admit it.”
God! Did he really see this as so simple! It didn’t matter how she felt about Sparda, he was a demon, and that made a lot of things different. But no! According to Michel, it was all very simple! She should just confess her love to Sparda. Just declare that she can barely speak properly around him simply because he’s a charming bastard!
…Okay… so maybe… she did have more than a teensy crush on Sparda. Maybe it’s more like… she really loved him… but what could she do? Sparda didn’t even understand flirting! He probably doesn’t even understand the concept of love, let alone feel it! And he was a demon, but god damnit did she not care at his point!
“Oh… God…”
Michel looked at her, actually surprised by his strange response, “Uh… What’s wrong?”
“I know, that in the past, I have given you flack about the whole ‘crush on Sparda’ thing,” She began, suddenly feeling less stupid and more just bashful. An odd thing for her.
“Yeah,”
“So, I’m just gonna apologize right now for that.”
“Why are you saying this?”
“Because,” Eva took a deep breath, pulling herself up to a proper sitting position. She looked at Michel, almost unable to believe what she was about to say. The realization that had just came to her. “I think - no wait, scratch that – I know that I’m…” How was she going to say this?
Michel eyed her warily, “You’re what?”
“I sorta-kinda have a thing for Sparda…?”
“I… kind of already knew that.” Michel really was not getting the whole point of this conversation. Eva was well aware that he knew she had a crush on Sparda, but this was way more than a crush, as she’s come to realize.
“No, not crush type of have a thing. A thing kind of have a thing.” That… probably didn’t make any sense. Despite that, Michel somehow managed to get the memo.
“Oh, you mean…” He paused for dramatic effect, “You love him?”
This was almost a moment of truth for her. She could deny it now, say that it was only a crush. But that would be lying to herself – and she’s pretty sure she’s done enough of that – so she should really just tell him the truth. Tell him how she really feels about the demon named Sparda.
“Yes…”