Demon Queened - Chapter 21 (rough draft) - Part 1/? (Patreon)

Important note: This is, as mentioned in the title, very much a rough draft. It hasn't been properly edited, proofread, or even given to a beta reader. To be honest, I'm not really expecting many to want to read it as is, and under normal circumstances I wouldn't even post it.

As to why I'm posting it anyway? It's because chapter 21 is going to be big. This part alone has hit 2k, and we're maybe a third of the way through. And because it's so big, I'm honestly not sure how long it'll take me to write it? It's gone by with shocking speed so far, but... Just in case. If I stall for any amount of time. I want to be able to point to this post, and remind myself that I've been making progress. That I accomplished a thing.

Besides, this part could actually be its own chapter, in both length and content. I just think it'll be a better experience to read the entire not!date as one thing. (All that said, if you do end up reading this through, do feel free to let me know what you think~!)

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Devilla

I studied my venison skewers as me and Lucy walked towards our next destination. They were simple, in construction, consisting of cubed meat impaled by wood, cooked upon a grill, lightly salted and slightly charred. They smelled good, and - judging by a quick nibble - tasted decent. But were they truly worth the praise Lucy had heaped upon them?

“Is something wrong?” Lucy asked, already halfway through the first of her meaty treats. “If you don’t like the taste, I can take you somewhere else!”

“I like the taste,” I assured her, taking a larger bite. The meat was firm and smooth, boasting a surprising depth of flavor, the lack of culinary seasoning supplemented by the creature’s own varied diet. A bit gamey, but not bad at all. “I’m just confused, I suppose. For as good as it tastes, I cannot help but credit that to the ingredients over the chef. And yet you called his stall your favorite? Surely there are others who could do the job as well?”

“I think you’re underestimating how hard it is to hunt stuff, Eena,” Lucy chided me. “Hunters are basically competing with monsters! Monsters who will want to attack them, too! I mean, Wilhoon’s actually an adventurer, you know? He makes most of his money selling monster material to guild!”

“Why not sell them at his stall, instead?” I questioned, taking another bite of the meat. Though I had a newfound appreciation for its rarity, I still thought it could have used more seasoning. As wonderful as salt was, even fries couldn’t truly shine with that alone. Dipping sauces were essential. Speaking of which… “Could you hold this for me?” I asked, handing my skewers over to Lucy. “There’s something I need to get from my pack.

“People don’t eat monster meat, Eena,” Lucy informed me, lowering her voice to a whisper as she took hold of my meal. “The church teaches that it’s fine to use their materials for weapons and stuff - to fight them with their own tools - but that consuming their flesh is to invite darkness into our hearts… Not that I really agree with them…” Lucy trailed off, the frown that had briefly marred her features disappearing. “But we’re getting off topic! The food’s not really why Wilhoon’s stall is my favorite, anyway.”

“No?” I questioned, digging into my pack, past the non-perishable goods that filled it, to reach the time stopped Empty Bag hiding within. “Then what is?”

“The way he treats me! He’s always been way more casual with me than the other vendors!”

I had to bite my tongue, to keep from questioning Lucy’s words. If that was her idea of a casual interaction, then I had to wonder whether my manner of speaking even registered with her as formal. The man hadn’t even called her by name! And he’d clearly been nervous, the entire time, albeit to varying degrees… But far be it from me to question what made her love the place.

“If it’s more the vendor than the flavor that drew you,” I said, instead, “then perhaps you won’t mind me making a minor adjustment to the taste?”

“What do you mean?” Lucy asked, eyeing my pack. Her eyes widened as I drew forth a glass bottle, curiosity written clearly upon her brow as she studied the red liquid within.

“This is called hot sauce,” I apprised her, tugging its cork free from the narrow neck. “A spicy topping sauce that I find to go well with meat.”

I watched Lucy for her reaction, just as she in turn studied the condiment I held. Thankfully, she seemed more interested in its contents than confused as to why I had such a thing in my possession. I could only hope that she’d be as accepting of the other sauces I had brought… Or at least the various herbs that Lenora had helped me to procure. I’d have to probe her acceptance carefully, if I didn’t wish to break my promise to Abigail - to be discreet.

“Can I try some?  I like spicy things!”

“If you’d like,” I agreed, proffering the bottle with one hand as I reached out to free my two remaining skewers from her grasp. She had, I noticed, finished the first of hers. “Though I’d be careful with the quantity. It’s quite potent.”

“Don’t worry,” Lucy replied, confidence puffing up her chest, as she proceeded to pour a generous heaping upon the first chunk of her skewer. “I have a really high tolerance to spicy stuff!”

Or so she said. And yet the very moment her teeth cut through the meat… “Spicyyyyyyyyyy!”

“I did try to warn you,” I sighed, trying not to chuckle at the Heroine who’d been brought to tears with a single bite. It was hard to imagine that her presence had ever struck me with terror, seeing her like this.

“I thought you were just underestimating me!” Lucy explained, levitating the bottle over to me via arcane magic, so that she could stick out her tongue and wave at it. As if that could possibly cool the flames on her tongue. “I mean, I’ve had hot sauce before, and usually I need at least that much just to feel it!”

I replied with a noncommittal hum, unsure how to justify the differences in strength between Lenora’s concoction and those that Lucy was more familiar with. It made sense, from my point - her people didn’t have dryads, capable of producing entire fields of peppers almost at will. Not to mention the fact that we demons of the tower had long been forced to compensate for a lack of salt in our cuisine, with other, stronger flavors. But none of that could be easily explained.

And speaking of the inexplicable…

“You can’t seriously be planning to go back for another bite?” I queried, voice laden with disbelief as I watched the Heroine slowly bringing the skewer back towards her face. Her eyes were still watering! Not to mention the emotions contained within - a combination of determination, and terror.

“I don’t want to waste it!” Lucy told me, her determination blazing ever brighter, as if she were gathering the courage to face her greatest enemy. Which I suppose wasn’t too far off base, considering the snack’s origin, but it was still not an expression worthy of good food. “Wilhoon put his all into hunting this meat! And I bet you don’t have a ton of that sauce, either, right?”

“Well…”

“This meal isn’t just meat and sauce! It’s filled with the feelings of those I care about! So there’s no way I’ll ever let that go to waste!”

Saying so, she opened her mouth wide to take another bite. The skewer, however, never entered her maw, as my magic was now pulling her back.

“Don’t be stupid,” I grumbled, snatching the hot sauce from her magic’s grasp, and pouring a singular drop upon the skewer that I had bitten into, and holding it out for her to take. I would have gone for the untouched skewer, but I didn’t want to hear any complaints about taking more than she was receiving. “Our feelings are meant to bring you joy, not pain.”

“Eena…” Lucy hesitated, her eyes traveling back and forth between the sauce drenched skewer she currently gripped, and the one I’d offered her in trade. “Are you sure? Wouldn’t that just put you in trouble, instead of me?”

“As if such a small amount of sauce could possibly trouble me,” I replied with a derisive snort. A bit excessive, perhaps, but I wanted to ensure she took me seriously. Especially since I was speaking truthfully - while there was some risk of the sauce washing out the meat’s flavor profile, there was no chance of its heat debilitating me. I could drink the stuff straight and be fine. In fact I’d done just that, on multiple occasions, in order to judge Lenora’s foray into sauce making.

“Well… If you’re sure,” Lucy said, overcoming her reluctance and making the trade.

She watched me, nerves obvious, as I raised the oversauced meat to my lips and bit into it. The heat washed over me, and while my fear of losing taste of venison proved true, the spice itself did me no ill. Indeed, I’d simply need to finish the chunk of meat she’d drenched, and then move onto the lower ones, which had merely caught the dripping excess. I could even switch between the two skewers Lucy had given me, so as to enjoy the taste in both its classic and altered forms.

The smile that thought brought to my lips must have alleviated Lucy’s concern, for she was soon raising the meal for a bite of her own. It was only as I watched her bite consume the marks I myself had left upon that skewer that something occurred to me - that this might, perhaps, count as an indirect kiss.

My face turned red. Then redder yet, when I saw that Lucy herself seemed to hold no such concerns, her focus entirely on the taste of hot sauce and meat. I was being ridiculous, I realized, allowing thoughts of lips on lips to pass through my mind. To think about what it would feel, if a more direct variant of the concept came to pass.

Did this even count? We were biting the food, not sealing our lips upon it. And even if it did, did Solla even have such a concept? I wasn’t sure how much of Earth even did, having never really come across it outside of the anime that Jacob used to watch.  And even if it did, it was worth repeating once again that there was no guarantee this counted. And that Lucy certainly didn’t seem to be thinking about such ridiculous things as our mouths… sealing against one another…

“Can I have some more?”

I nodded, rapidly, my cheeks on fire as I pushed the embarrassing notion from my mind.

“Eena?” Lucy queried me, her hand yet to reach for the sauce. “Are you okay? Your face is all red…?”

I shook my head, in lieu of a verbal response, not trusting my voice to remain steady in the wake of my embarrassment. Similarly, my eyes avoided Lucy’s, taken as I was by the irrational fear that she might give her some clue as to what had gone through my mind.

“Oh no… Don’t tell me the sauce got to you after all? I knew I shouldn’t have let you take it!”

“N-no!” I squeaked out, cursing the quivering of my voice. I was being ridiculous. Letting Lucy’s talk of romance and dates put ideas in my mind… But… The idea of kissing, outside of sex, was just so… So… intimate. Indirect or not! “I’m just… Embarrassed by… Well…” I hesitated, chancing a look upon her face. The concern I saw in her eyes added guilt to my embarrassment. The thought that she might blame herself for taking the trade from me. That she might try and take it back. That we might share another indirect kiss through it… “Ijusthadtheideathatwemighthaveindirectlykissedisall.”

Lucy blinked at the words - or maybe just word - that had rushed out from me, in my embarrassment. I watched her mouthing it, picking it apart. And then I saw a blush touch her cheeks, as they had mine - but it was lighter. Paired with a smile.

“I don’t think that counts as a kiss, Eena. I mean, we were just biting it, weren’t we?”

I nodded, slower this time, feeling even more like a fool than before. But she was right. And it felt better, somehow, to hear her say it.

“Besides, there’s no way I’d be satisfied with that as our first  kiss! When it comes, I want to enjoy it!”

…I wondered what Lucy would think, if she knew how close she was to becoming the first Heroine to ever kill a Demon Queen through nothing but embarrassment.