Into The Casino

Ch17

(Warning: Slightly suggestive content at the end.)


The next day was something to make better. She slept in that day and for some reason Lou didn't have the energy to bother her for some reason, probably wanting to let her rest up after what happened, but eventually she did drag herself out of bed and start towards his office, but with noticeable bags under her eyes and visibly yawned as soon as he saw her walk in....He wasn't sure what compelled him to do it, but he sent her back to bed. Despite her light protests, he firmly told her he would have Cyber take care of anything she had to do that day and to GO back to bed. She...didn't argue much after that, but Cyber was slightly surprised to hear the reason why he asked her to take over the pet's job for the day, and she was still a bit confused over yesterday's incident, so she asked.

"Uh. Sure thing, Boss. But are you feeling alright?"

He stopped midway looking through the forms and deeds to his new winery addition and looked at her. "Whatever do you mean? I feel the same way I do every morning, a bit groggy but nothing a couple cups of coffee can't fix."

She rose a brow. "Well, I know that." He went back to looking at the papers but stopped when she asked the next question. "It's just that it's not like you to just outright attack someone out of nowhere, and in front of everyone no less. You don't like people seeing you angry..And you got real angry real fast." She lightly leaned her head forward. "Are you feeling ok?"

He didn't move for a moment, but blinked back down to his papers and resumed like it wasn't even asked. "Well-...I guess Im just a little frustrated with the state of decay the stupid man left the winery." He sighed and gave a geneuine light scowl. "It'll cost me a small fortune to completely fix the dam place..but nothing unfixable."

"...You've been frustrated before and you've NEVER acted out like that unless someone was attacking you first. Are you sure you're ok?"

"...Cyber, this discussion is OVER."

And he meant it. But Cyber was more than just observant. She was a super computer with legs and a voice. So for the next couple of days she observed his behavior and made lots of mental notes. More and more suspicious behavior ensued. Not at first because the following one or two weeks was pretty uneventful with Amalfia easing her way back to working and doing her work as Lou's new personal assistant. The two would talk a couple times a day, mostly about progress with things like staff's progress, Midnight's reports she'd hand in, and typical things a regular boss employee relationship would have. Sometimes he'd give her a small compliment here or there, but it still wasn't out of the ordinary for him. She did however notice his happy tone and there wasn't...there wasn't anything underlinging in it. It was hard to explain but when he called her lovely or smiled back at her smile he..it wasn't the usually smile and compliment he would give. It..actually looked like he was happy. Truly one hundred percent happy dishing out compliments like they were free hand outs, and she would've just passed all that off as normal Lou behavior as well if she hadn't seen it. Lou could give genuine compliments to employees who did a good job if he wanted to sometimes, but the amount of ones he was handing out? She would've chalked THAT one up to him fast forwarding the plan he was so excited for, IF she hand't caught it. It was only a few swings. But one day she he made her giggle at a small joke he said...It- HIS TAIL!! It wagged. It only swished maybe two or three times, but there was no denying the small movements the green tail made.

.....She started to slowly put two and two together. And she now had a sneaking suspicion of what exactly was going on. Buuuut she had to be SURE before she made any true descisions. Which also didn't take two long.

She came in one day bright and early- Only for Lou to shoo her away and tell her to handle the floor by herself and make sure nothing bad happened. That was normal. Sometimes he wanted just a day for himself, so she did. But a couple days later he did it again. ....And then again a few days after that. Which rose her suspicions further so when he told her again for the fourth time a little while later she decided to ask him why. He paused for a few suspicious seconds, before calmly turning to her like it wasn't and smiled at her.

"Oh, Cyber. Ever the questioner. I deserve a few days off for my work don't I?"

Her brow rose. "Well, yes. But you usually don't just take a whole day off and then another just a few days later. Seriously, are you feeling ok? Maybe we should have Midnight look ya over."

He waved her off maybe a bit too quickly. "I assure you I haven't felt better. Now go on would you? I have a very specific thing I want to do today and I don't want to be bothered unless ABSOLUTELY needed."

She hummed and did as she was asked. And if her calculations were correct as she was multiplying all this together, he should be doing it again within the next three to four days. And wouldn't you know it? He DID!! But this time with a twist, he asked her to take care of Amalfia's work for the day as she had been given the day off as well for them to discuss her position and things. She wasn't surprised this time, as he had that same smile he usually wore around the unicorn come up and she smiled. The sudden protective urge, smiling, tail wagging, strange behavior- Did she really need anymore evidence? But she didn't confront him and just smiled and went along with whatever he asked of her now. She'd ask about it when the time was right.

And speaking of our cupid struck demon boss-

Lou suddenly felt as if someone had opened his cold hard chest and poor lovely warm honey and cream in it. He was in a MUCH more better mood than he had been in for a while and why wouldn't he? Midnight made progress with a lot of her experiments. Including testing out those angelic fossils. Turned out they could still destroy a demon, which was fantastic! And plus that also disposes of the threat of someone taking her or scaring her off for the moment. He didn't know why but the sudden thought of having her to himself just delighted him to no end! Especially after she blatantly disbelieved Charles for him! That one thought added to the sheer excitement of it all! No one stood a chance now, she was practically in the palms of his hands. Sometimes literally. As she still enjoyed dancing with him and hearing him sing, and he was very happy to oblige. After all how could he turn away such a cute face and sparkling eyes that begged at his performances and was left staring in amazement at him. All giggling and red faced and-....All the while the warm feeling in his chest grew. There was no forcing this away now. Now while it happened so many times. He took a day off to try and busy himself to NOT feel this way and another after he felt it flair up. But for SOME reason he couldn't fathom for some reason, his brain calculated that he would absolutely adore spending the entire day with just the two of them spending time together and listening to her giggles and strange questions she'd ask him about hell. Such curiousity.~ Cyber didn't inquire anything else about him so that's a plus. In the meantime the warm feeling only began to grow and one day he had the bright idea to try and take his plan a step further. One day when he greeted her, instead of just holding her hand or shaking it, he did what a natural gentleman always did with a respectable young lady in his day. ...He placed a kiss on the back of her hand. Her reaction was instant, her face and the tips of her ears turned a bright pink deeper than he had seen before and he chuckled. His own heart giving a couple beats, ESPECIALLY when he saw the ring he had gifted her...oh I don't know. Maybe a year and some months ago now still on her finger. She had good taste.~

But he was, for once in his afterlife NOT realizing what had been going on until one day.

It was just business as normal. Shifting through different papers, a few deals he managed to wrack in, and Cyber chilling right behind him. He was just sitting there, minding his own business. When he suddenly turned to a dark purple paper, and smiled. Oh how cute. It was almost the same purple as her ey-.....He suddenly froze. He couldn't explain it, but it was as if everything came back and hit him like a giant boulder at once. His eyes slightly widened and the papers slowly dropped from his hands to the desk. Oh....OH NO!! IT COULDN'T BE!! ...But it WAS!! Her smiles, and giggles, and polite words came rushing back to him and his stomach sank. He groaned and reached both hands up to cover his face all of a sudden and Cyber immediately blinked and leaned over to look at him.

"Hey. Are you alright?"

At this point. He didn't know. "....Shit. Cyber, I think I've fallen for the unicorn."

"Mm-hmm. I know.''

"....." He whipped his head to her with a surprised look. "What the hell do you mean you know?!"

She shrugged. "Lou, I ain't blind to the obvious. It was clear you started liking her after the small rage episode. It just took me a bit to piece it together."

Well she wasn't being rude or smug about it. Just rather calm and straight like this was any other normal conversation. He just huffed and forcefully grabbed his papers and busied himself by looking through them again. "Well a little infatuation barely means anything really. You know as well as I do I've had a few, but none got in the way of business, just like this one won't. With time it'll pass just like all the other's and it won't change any plans."

"...None of your 'infatuations' ever made you throw a chair at someone before-"

"Cyber. This topic is closed!"

He was absolutely sure this small crush would leave now that he realized what was going on..but oh he couldn't have been more wrong. After all he saw her everyday. Her big smile and sparling eyes accompanied by her giggles were- NO! No. no. Stop it! You're trying to get her OUT of that part of your brain. Just start thinking of Rita everytime you see her. The old bird brain was just the thing he needed to run those thoughts off. Only...Everytime she came in now and he thought about Rita, his mind would slowly revolve around to her in that pretty ball dress which would then revolve around what happened at...the...ball....DAMMIT!! He slammed his face in frustration onto the desk at one point and Cyber offered to give him an ice pack which was much appreciated since he made it clear he was NOT just going to give into these stupid feelings without a fight. ...Which is why he still took days off with her to see her smile at him- And her consideration surprised him, just the other day she asked him a question he didn't even know he wanted.

"Hey. What brand of coffee do you want?"

He blinked up at her a bit confused. "Black of course. I don't like all the fancy sugars and creamers much. Just a couple drops weed killer and I'm good to go."

She giggled. " I know. But we have so many different kinds. Costa, Tim Horton's, Nescafe, Folgers- I want to make sure you get one you like."

He blinked and gave her a small wave off. "Surprise me. Just make sure it's black if you please."

She happily nodded and left as he waved her off and he was left with just his racing mind and warm feeling growing even more prominent in his chest. Oh Cyber was giving him a smile he knew the exact meaning behind. It seemed no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the thought of purple sparkling eyes out of his image. And he SHOULDN'T be happy at the sight of her wearing rose print rose sweater and..wearing the rose in her hair that he had gifted her yesterday. And she shouldn't be allowing herself to be so comfortable around him..She...had stopped flinching so much around him and seemed genuinely more comfortable, except for actual large crowds since the incident. So for some reason he loved the great idea of keeping her to himself and keeping her away from so many prying eyes. More than once he fantasied about having a giant fantasy garden. You know. The kind with regular plants but also having things like a small stream, fairy bridge, a small gazebo and having her all dressed up in pretty greens and hair full of flowers and her just living there like some beautiful secret garden hide away-.....Which he would immediately snap out of and scold himself over. Cyber did start noticing his strange behavior more and offered the brilliant advice of just talking to her if he really felt like that. Maybe talking about his feelings would make him feel better. He severly doubted it and still thought this would all just crash and burn like all the others, but her advice still did make him think. Especially one night when the two were spending some quality boss employee time together to work on this new building project he was almost done fleshing out. He was admittedly a bit tired and his hand hurt from just doodling out the plans and signing so many things in one day. But as he sat there waiting for her to respond, some questions poured into his mind. Like-

How does one decide another's worth? How does one predict another's personality or their impact they leave behind? Well unless you can see into the future and know for sure what you're dealing with then you're in for surprises. Which is what happened to him not too long ago. He could admit(just to himself) that he never expected to be surprised by someone he originally perceived as an easy pawn to his own needs. He never expected to be the one drawn to something so opposite of himself. But here he was, one moment minding himself the next-

She didn't even know he was watching as she shifted through the small stack of papers in her hands. Her purple eyes narrowed and scrunched snout in thought. Suddenly her purple eyes lit up and she turned to him. He adverted his eyes just in time to not arose suspicions.

"Everything seems organized already."

"Is it now?" She nodded before leaning arcoss the desk to show him the neat stack of papers to him. His eyes glazed over the newspaper in his hand, raising a brow at her work. But...they both had done enough work for today and his hand was starting to feel sore after all that bland paperwork and holding the dammed newspaper for so long. "Excellent! Now, why don't you put those away, Pet? Im sure you'll be busy with other things tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes but leaned away. "Ok. I get the hint."

He chuckled but sat back. A slight pang of pain shot up his left arm from the movement of his body but gritted his teeth and bit it down in front of company. Just a slight cramp from signing nothing but papers all day. Anyones arm would be sore....Come to think of it. How long had they been at this paper pushing fiasco? A couple hours by the way his wrist was feeling. He reached it out to grabb at the mug on the desk when another throb coursed through his arm. A single hiss escaped his gritted teeth which caught her attention.

Her brow rose and she gave him a questioning look. "Are ...you alright?"

His grin came back up. "Of course. Being tired is no problem..." His eyes glanced too the cup for a moment. "..Why don't you make yourself useful and get me some more coffee, Flower? Im going to need more energy if Im going to deal with this."

"Alright. You're the boss."

"And don't forget that.~"

She rolled her eyes but received the mug whilst standing up. Grin still present on his face. She gave him another look before laying down the papers with her other hand and turning around. He waited for her back to turn and she was walking away before grimacing and holding up his sore wrist up to his face with a hiss. His muscles were cramped and tight when he moved the red digits. Just great. He rotated the pained appendage causing more pain and his eye to twitch in irritation. Mumbling to himself, he carefully set the wrist back down onto the desk and reached his good arm over to grab the papers. Slapping them down in front of him and staring at the words typed upon them. Eyes furrowed in irritation.

He didn't notice the return of the lady who stopped momentarily upon seeing his annoyed expression. She frowned slightly upon noticing it. Did she do something wrong when she organized them? Or was he not happy with something written on it? She gulped down the rock in her stomach and put a smile on her face.

"Hey." He flinched a bit and looked up at her. She held up the now warm mug. "You're drink's ready." He grumbled and made a motion for her to come in. She did but tilted her head to look at his face. "Is everything ok?"

"Lovely," he grumbled. She placed the mug by his free hand and straightened back up. He didnt make an attempt to grab it at first and instead glanced up at her. "Amalfia...Would you give me a moment? I have something to take care of."

She gave a puzzled look, but it was probably best not to argue when Lou was in a bad mood. So Amalfia turned and began making her way out. He initially cursed under his breath and subconsciously reached for the mug as he always did when he was irritated- ...The sound of a demonic cry and shattering glass made Amalfia jump and spin back around towards the desk to a very.....panicked scene. The plant demon hissed and clutched onto his wrist, the mug shattered in bits on the floor and liquid spilt all over the desk and by the looks of it him. Well she wasn't one to stand by while her boss was in pain. Hurrying over, her hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Oh my god! Are y-?"

His head snapped to her. "IM FINE!!"

She immediately let go and stood back a couple steps back from the flashing red eyes. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he blinked and slowly slumped back from the tense pose he was in, giving a more calm look. The two stood there for a moment before Lou cleared his throat and excused himself from situation. Still clutching his wrist. Leaving her just standing there confused and...a bit hurt as he walked out of the office clutching that hand of his.

When he got there he spent a good while just hissing and trying to sooth the pain in his arm. The pain hadn't reduced surprise, surprise. But instead hurt more if that was even possible ironically. Which irritated him further. The calm darkness of the room brought some ease to his mind at least, couldn't say the same for his hand, which was stiff as a board and slightly burnt from the hot drink spilling all over everything, but that one was on him to be honest. He sighed and stretched his body out slowly. It was going to be a long night with this problem. He almost didn't hear the knock at the door but looked up anyways.

"...." Sighing he rubbed his face. "If this is a report for anything, it can wait until morning."

There was a small silence, and he thought whoever it was left, when the doorknob turned and the door opened slowly with a creak. The plant demon rose a brow but stared in slight surprise when a white face poked into the entrance, she gave him an uncertain look before asking-

"Do you still want me to leave?"

"Uh...N-No. No. Don't just stand there." He gestured a hand. "Come in. And close the door behind you." She did but slowly. The door was closed with a click and she stood there silently. He regarded her with a raised brow before looking back down to his wrist. "Is there something wrong?"

She didn't say anything for a moment but looked down in guilt. "Im sorry. "

"Excuse me?"

"I said Im sorry. I didn't know you would burn yourself...Im sorry." She turned her guilty expression down and her ears folded back. "I-I should've checked how hot it was before I gave to you. It's my fault. Im sorry."

Silence.

"Don't be."

...She blinked and looked up at him. "w-wha-"

"You heard me. Don't apologize for something you didn't do." He glanced up at her from his sitting position. "It wasn't your intention to harm me was it?"

"What?! N-No!"

"Well there you go."

"Why are you holding your wrist like that?" He gave her a questioning look and she pointed to his arm. "Are you ok?" He didn't answer, only mumbled and look down to his cramping muscles, hissing as they slightly moved. She cocked her head to the side for a moment...before slowly walking her way to the bed. When she was close enough, she held out a hand towards him. When he didn't pull away she gently took a few steps closer and softly grabbed his good arm. Her eyes flashed confused worry at him. "Does it hurt?"

When she reached her other hand towards his hurt wrist, he gave a sudden inhale of pain and stopped. "Its...sore. Nothing I can't take care of myself."

"I can see that."

"I've suffered worse."

"I don't doubt that, but you're more stubborn than a hellhorse." He gave an offended look but froze when she came around to the other side of him and sat down, gently taking his hand in hers. He gave her a confused look and she smiled. "I have an idea. My father used to have bad cramps and aches, and his assistant used to fix them easily. I-I can try it. If you'll let me try that is?"

When he didn't answer, she delicately pressed down on the sore flesh of the palm. Immediate pain spiked up his arm but he bit down any hisses and instead opted for digging his free hand into the mattress. Amalfia didn't seem to notice as she continued to carefully press down onto the tender flesh in strides. After a minute, the tightness in his palm decreased and he was left with a dull pain. She noticed his body loosened up on that tense aura and smiled.

"Starting to feel better?"

He hummed. "I suppose." His red eyes glanced over her working hands before trailing up to her face. "....You're solution is acceptable."

A snort. "Just acceptable? Your way would've left you in another hour of aches and pains and acting like Midnight when one of her potions explodes."

The comparion made him chuckle. "My dear. I am more capable of controlling my emotions than her."

Purple eyes glanced up at him in amusement. "Oh? So acting like a baby because of a little cold air is capable control?"

"Ill have you know that cold wind has severe damage on plant life, I have a right to be upset."

She giggled. "Well, you're the boss."

"And don't you forget that."

"I haven't." She stopped and gave him a look. "To be quite honest, I think you're not given enough credit as far as Im concerned."

His ears perked up at her answer. "Oh really?" She nodded. "And what do you mean by that, Pet? Id love to hear from you."

She rolled her eyes. "And inflate your ego? I don't think so.....But I will say you're more agreeable and understanding than most men I've met. And actually know what you're doing. Not to mention tolerable. I don't see how you can deal with all the stuff around here with Disease and-..." She stopped upon seeing the smirk on his face. "...What?"

"Don't let me stop you. Please, continue.~ But I believe you forgot a few of my better qualities.~" This sent her into a small giggle fit. Making him smike wider. "You know I have those qualities. Helping me deal with the idiots I work with....But not you. In all honestly, your work is quite admirable. "

"....You really think so?"

He paused for a moment, looking into those dark purple eyes staring back at him. She patiently stared back. Those purple eyes blinked and looked down to the feeling of those red digits closing around her own hand. Pink rushed to her cheeks and her body flinched when something touched her cheek. The red eyes holding neutral emotion towards the situation between them.

"Yes."

They were so close now and those red digits were holding her face so gently. Pushing some hair some her obviously turning pink face and he gave a chuckle. She looked so cute all flustered like this. But the calm of those red eyes and the sudden closeness was..exciting. And she thought she new exactly what this meant- So when that smile came close, red eyes slightly closing, the flustered pink face quickly turned away, releasing itself from the red digits holding her cheek lovingly and making the man pause in his actions. The red eyes blinked and quickly noticed the shy and uncomfort in her eyes.

"Oh...I'm sorry." He tilted his head to try and look at her. "Was that too much? I should've asked."

"N-No. I-It's ok. You didn't know," She assured him bringing up the hand that he wasn't hold and pushing some of her hair away. Her whole face radiated red and she dared not at him out of embarrasment. "I-It's just...b-b-been so long since- Well I had this kind of attention. I g-g-guess Im just a little caught off guard from it."

"Hm. Yes. That-...would be very understandable."

The two sat there in silence. Other than the heart beat she heard in her ears as her heartrate picked up and it felt like her pretty white face was on fire. Probably looked the part too, she wondered if she looked at all like a burnt pancake. But to him, his own cold heart was picking up a few paces fueled by the fact that she hadn't yanked her hand away and wasn't making at move as if she wanted to leave. Now if could've been because his face was also heated and cooking his brain, or maybe it was because his heart currently had cupid's arrow through it and he was under that spell but-....He asked his next question like his tongue was glued to his mouth.

"Amalfia..." She hummed and glanced to him for a moment. "May I...kiss you?"

It was quite obvious she was caught off guard with his question when she jumped and whirled to him. "W-W-What?!" She stuttered out. Frozen in a flustered state.

He smiled and swallowed the lump in his throat. "I asked..if I may kiss you? You don't have to agree, I just want to make sure you are absolutely comfortable with such close contact."

She couldn't make an coherant sentences as she stumbled and fumbled over her words. Her whole face turning a beat red he didn't think was possible and she squeaked. He chuckled at it until she unintentionally forced out the smallest littlest, ''....ok...."

His smile became brighter as his only hand slowly came up to hold the back of her head and she still stop him from doing that. From leaning himself forward. From closing the distance and making contact with the sweet bliss of that warm feeling throbbing throughout his entire being, and she didn't flinch. Didn't pull away. Just..stayed...Those purple eyes wide in surprise before the closed. Until that free hand came up to wrap around his shoulders and pulled him forward-

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BEEP! BEEP BEEP!!

"......"

A groan cut through the darkness and he groggily reached a hand out. The sharp red digits skimming along through the darkness and eventually tapping along a wood surface. The annoying beeping noise was soon done when those red fingers slapped down hard on the stupid machine that was making the stupid noise. Also known as a clock. The same hand came back and to rub the face of the person it was attatched to. The plant demon groaned and slowly opened those groggy red eyes up towards the familiar ceiling. It was blurry for a moment as his tired body just laid there for a while, senses slowly starting to come back as well as feeling and he groaned again. Blinking until his sight was finally ok enough to see things clearly. He HATED mornings. Always left him feeling tired and his body feeling sluggish....but oddly enough he felt more tired than usually. With a grunt he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting up position. He sat there for a moment before reaching up and rubbing his face again with a sigh, before running those red digits through his already pretty messy hair, his red eyes slowly blinking to the mess of clothing on the floor..And rose a brow. Did the maids forget to collect the dirty laundry? Well, what was he paying them for then!? He would be sure to have a talk with them when-

He froze. Something shifted next to him...and he slowly looked to his right. Someone was right next to him. And that someone was currently cocooned in a blanket burrito with only the top of her face showing. Her nose and ears twitched slightly and her eyes still peacefully closed as the demon sat there and stared...before quickly looking back to the laundry. And freezing. Everything from last night slammed into him at rocket speed and he felt....Calm. Which was weird since you would think one would be panicking in his situation, but he felt oddly calm. Smiling and reaching over to pull one strand of white hair away from her face. Her eyelids squeezed themselves for a moment before slowly opening...the groggy purple pupils blinked at the red finger in front of her before becoming confused. Slowly looking up and freezing when the sight of the plant demon, smiling with his head in his hand, smiled at her.

"Good morning, Darling.~"