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Eleanor took a deep breath. They were finally here, mere steps away from the door that would lead them into the innermost chambers, where Artorius and Innominat sat. Rokurou wanted to go in there right away and start chopping him into pieces, but cooler heads (Eleanor's) prevailed, and they were pausing to rest and recover before charging in. And so Eleanor was taking a moment to center herself and clear her mind of doubt and fear, so that she could face her foe without hesitation.
As Eleanor began her meditation exercises, however, she was interrupted by Velvet walking up to her and holding out a plate of mabo curry. "You hungry?" Velvet asked. "Decided to make some food for everyone."
Eleanor reached up and took the proffered plate. "Th-thanks, Velvet. I was feeling a bit hungry, anyways." She wasn't, but she felt like she should be - food would help settle the butterflies in her stomach, if nothing else.
Velvet smiled at her. "Take care of yourself, okay? Gonna need you at your best." Eleanor's heart fluttered as Velvet walked away to hand out the rest of the curry.
Eleanor was reminded once more that she was helplessly in love with Velvet.
It definitely hadn't been true at first. She was a daemon, after all. Even if Eleanor was attracted by Velvet's appearance, she had immediately dismissed it as the seductive wiles of a daemon trying to lower her guard. Until the fateful moment that Eleanor had chased after Velvet and Laphicet, that was all the interaction they had ever had - a hunter trying to chase her prey. (Though sometimes she lost track of who was hunter and who was prey.)
Once she was stuck with Velvet, however? She found her opinion shifting. She still couldn't help but think of Velvet's desire for revenge as selfish, but as they continued to explore the world and find the extent of the Abbey's hidden operations, she became less and less certain of her own beliefs and judgments, and more and more convinced that she had far more to learn than she realized. And one of the things she quickly learned was that Velvet was beautiful and, despite all her rage and sins, a good person at heart. She cared for people, even if she pretended otherwise. She listened to the advice of her friends, even if she claimed not to. Once they rescued Kamoana, Eleanor realized the truth of it. Velvet wasn't a demon lord or a force of evil. She was a scared, hurt, lonely girl, who wanted to be back with her family.
Sometimes, in her weaker moments, Eleanor imagined what it'd be like to be Velvet's new family.
Eleanor sighed and shook her head. She always was getting ahead of herself. She hadn't even confessed her feelings to Velvet yet, despite multiple golden opportunities to do so. (Her heart had nearly exploded from the strain when Velvet had asked her to come alone to discuss something on the boat ride here. No dice there, either.) If she could just get herself together for a few moments...
But that was the problem. It wasn't just her that had caused the delay for so long - multiple times, when she finally got the confidence to confess, either something terrible and time critical had just happened or Velvet had received a distressing psychological shock (the poor girl had received WAY too many of those). As such, the time had never felt right for her to finally open her heart up to Velvet, and explain the feelings Velvet had caused in her.
Silently, Eleanor nodded to herself. Once this was over, she thought, she'll talk to Velvet. She'll tell her everything - how beautiful she is, how much she wants to protect her, how she wants nothing more than to take care of her, how she wants nothing more than to see her happy, how she wants to live with her and Phi as a family every day for the rest of their lives.
Once this was over.