Awesome February Challenge the First: Row 1, Column 9
Though Atira loathed to admit it, she did own some property up around Lake Tahoe. She rarely used it, and had bought it in an effort to keep an eye on Nahollo- especially after the tableau with Saevita. The redheaded she-demon smiled a little, leaning back in her chair as she watched the sun set. There were people on her property, and not ones she had to kill or maim for being trespassing little bastards. These were people, teenagers, that she welcomed onto her property, into her home.
Her back yard, the part of the property facing the water and the sunset, was filled with laughter. There was even a small, controlled fire burning in a cleared spot. She’d never thought she would live to see people enjoying themselves on her property. Either she would kill Nahollo, weak as he was, or he’d kill her and prove himself stronger than her. That was the way things had been.
Instead, she had him sitting out in the sun in her yard, with various younger demons and angels occasionally walking up to him, sharing jokes and laughter and utterly human warmth. It was peaceful and friendly, and it made Atira smile to watch.
Ostensibly, it had been a party for Nahollo’s birthday- July the first, in the heart of summer’s heat and activity in these mountains. In reality, Atira and Twyla had set this up- an apology for so many things that she had done wrong, had allowed either through arrogant oversight or through ignoring Cassandra completely. The latter was just more of the same arrogance.
Twyla, at least, knew it for what it really was. It was an apology to the white-haired angel of death, trying to give him some semblance of a normal social life, trying to give him some of the childhood she had inadvertently stolen from him. She knew better than anyone that it was a pale, weak sort of apology, but it was the only sort she could give. He seemed happier now that he wasn’t dying, or at risk of dying, even if he did seem to have problems realizing that he could get up and dance with his fellows.
It warmed her heart, just a little, to watch Nahollo enjoying himself, even if it was in a quiet way. He obviously was- his smiles were no longer colored with the strain and fear of making friends. He wasn’t exactly someone she could directly socialize with- she was fairly sure she would always have a hard time understanding his motivations, and he would have an equally hard time understanding hers- but she could offer him this. She could offer him what protection she had available, make his life easier, and guide him to the best of her ability.
Atira never wanted to see Nahollo as upset as he had been only a month before, when he had spilled everything at her. I don’t think I wanted to hurt anyone any more than he does, when I was his age. It was difficult to remember.
Lost in thought as she was, she nearly missed it when Nahollo walked up to her and stopped, waiting for her attention in patient silence. As soon as she looked up and straightened, his arms wrapped around her shoulders, forehead pressed against her left. “Thank you, Cal-Atira.”