His answer made her blink a few times. Her inventions had always been at the forefront of everything she did. They were her pride and joy. She would do anything to make sure they were safe almost like they were children to her… and yet when Hendrix asked her to do the one thing that she wouldn’t have done for anyone else she merely she nodded. There was a more dumbfounded look on her face for a moment but she put the stubborn look back on her face to mask it. Why had she agreed to him anyway? He was just some freeloader who was living on her sofa.

When she realized that there had been a miscommunication… That she had taken what he said in the wrong way. Her face immediately began to flush into a bright red. It sent her heart a bit wild for a few seconds as it beat heart against her chest. It looked like she was holding her breath as her eyes frantically bounced from his left to his right eyes. Back and forth repeatedly until she finally took a breath. He patted her head and told her something that made the behavior seemingly drop.

It was more at a normal level now as her anxiety spiked. He liked her just about as she liked him. He stayed out of her way and she left him alone. For the most part. That was how their time had been since he was left at her workshop. Marin was far too lazy to kick him out and even if she did she wasn’t cold-hearted enough. She knew he didn’t have any where else to go. Marin returned the smile he gave her. Her’s was a bit more funny looking but maybe it was because she was unsure of how she was supposed to be feeling.

Orange eyes got wide as his hand drifted down to her face and cupped it. His skin was warm against hers. Still rather cold from the surgery her mother had performed Marin found it pleasant. Her face had almost lost all of the red but a light veil remained as he touched her in that way. It was innocent the way she stared at him. “You know I would throw you out if I wanted you gone.” It was blunt. Just like he was blunt so she was she. “Besides where would you go if I did?” She went to tussle her hair about and give sass but his hand made the reaction stop. She didn’t want it to move.

Slender digit came up and placed her palm over his. She held his hand to her face and smiled more genuinely now. “I leave for the better part of five minutes and I come back to puppy love,” it was Angela who made Marin spazz in the bed. The half-demon pulled the blankets up over her to hide her face from her mother. “Relax. Do you know how many people I see a day.” There was a laugh as the goddess placed the tray with food down. There appeared to be enough for both of them. Some warm hearty soup for them both as well. It was in a medium sized pot with a ladle with two small bowls and some spoons. There was bread and cheese as well. “It’s not much but it should fill you up.”

Angela went to leave but she paused with her back to the two of them. Her face turned just enough so both of her green eyes were on them. “For what its worth… I think it is good for the both of you to have each other. Marin has been alone a long time… and I’m sure you have too. Solitary creatures as you both are… Even you get lonely once in a while.” Marin only came out once she heard the flap finally close.

Hungrily she looked at the tray and bit her lip a bit. Her mother had ruined a good moment but that was what Angela was known for after all. Orange eyes honed in on the tray after her nose caught the scent of something. “Oh… Cheese! I love cheese.” She reached across Hendrix to get one of the cubes and plopped it in her mouth lazily. “It’s my favorite type too.” She was happily chewing when the thought crossed her mind. Her chewing came to a slow and steady halt. “She remembered.”

She really did need to see her mother more. Looking over in the pot she saw it was even her favorite kind of soup. “Oh man… She really knows how to make me feel guilty about not coming home.” She knew it wasn’t her mother’s intention. She knew that it was just Angela being a mom. However, it didn’t stop the feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“And she sucks for totally ruining all and any moment her children have with someone.” Marin once more crossed her arms defiantly. Angela really was the best mom and it showed when Marin dropped her act and gave him a grin. She didn’t even have to say it.

Soon though she looked serious as she looked to the tent flap. “When we get…” She sucked in some air and chewed on her lip. “Home… when we get home.” She steadied herself and felt her cheeks get a bit hot. “We’ll have a lot of cleaning to do. And building. The windows will need to be replaced you know… I suppose that we could… hire the builders to fix the stairs too.” She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. “And… Uh… Clean the spare room so you have someplace to sleep that isn’t that crappy sofa.” It was her way of cementing the fact she wanted him to stay with her.

Hendrix thought it was reasonable; that she shouldn’t put her inventions above her own welfare. It was insane to think that she would die for something, but it was a cause she believed in, unlike him who really didn’t have such a purpose. Still, he didn’t feel right in hearing her say that.

This thing between them was complicated and bothersome. He hadn’t dealt with anything like this before in his life. It was really unnerving for him in his inability to understand all of this. He hardly cared for anything and anyone other than himself, yet here he was, wanting Marin to be safe and sound. She wasn’t helping the matter either- too many times did her face turn red as a tomato and he himself just looked sheepily at her. Seemed like she was having just as much of a difficult time speaking as he was.

“I know. I had expected you to do that a long ago. When you didn’t, I just lingered about, waiting.” But that day never came, did it? She seemed approving of his company and they simply went with it. If she had ever decided to throw him out, he had other places to go and check out. “Please, I’ve been on my own since I could walk. I’m a drifter that goes wherever my whim wished me to”, he shrugged, but at least he had enjoyed their time together. Her hand collapsed onto his own and he watched eagerly when she put it up to her face as it had been earlier. He hadn’t seen her smile like that before, and in a weird way, it was comforting to him

And then her mother came.

Hendrix noticed but didn’t really make anything of it; Marin on the other hand…well could have handled it a bit better. Puppy love. Those two words made him think long and hard. The concept was lost on him, perhaps he should ask an expert. And…then Dante came to mind and he immediately didn’t want to anymore. His eyes watched her mother as she came in with the food and spoke some wise words towards them before departing They were left alone again and Marin took the initiative and started to dig in, which was good for him to see. She would need to gather up more strength if she wanted to recover soon. “Told you. That’s how good parents are.”

Hendrix poured some of the soup into a bowl and started to chow down on that when he heard her speak once more. Or more so stumble with her words for some reason. Was this what caring about someone was like? He thought back to Angela’s words- he never did consider his loneliness a curse yet being here with her seemed to have him in a better mood than he had ever been. Too damn confusing. “Hey, I like that crappy sofa. Perfect to longue on while I watch you…work, to watch you work I mean.” Great, now he was stumbling. Shaking his head, he enjoyed the soup while they talked. “Yeah, finally get those stairs fixed. It’s fine though, I can actually help out with the other things but please don’t blow us up in the process.” He chuckled a little in saying that.

“Honestly, I was just expecting you to get bored and leave yourself.” What an odd pair they were. “Your whim often just lets you go to the couch.” She huffed a bit before laughing. It was obvious she was just joking with him as they came to have that special moment. That was before Angela ruined it for Marin.

Marin was digging into her favorite food and her orange eyes met Hendrix’s eyes. “Yeah, I guess she’s pretty alright most of the time.” When she wasn’t being a pain in the ass or being embarrassing. She guessed though that was what parents were for. Good parents like Hendrix said. A warm and fuzzy smile appeared on her face at the thought before they moved back to them.

His stumbling was adorable in a way as she chuckled towards him. “You can watch my backside all you want. It would probably be more entertaining if you shifted the couch so you could, oh I don’t know, actually see me work.” She jested towards him.

With just liquid left in the bowl, she slurped it down with as much grace as a drunk. “I would actually like it if you did help out… Might be fun. I don’t make any promises on the explosions though. We have a quota to keep. Five explosions per month at the least.” She waved the spoon at him and booped his nose with it. “Any less and people will start to think I’m sane. They will have to bother me and that simply will not do.”

She moved the bowl to the stand and sighed from her belly being full with warm food. A yawn left her lips as she looked up at Hendrix. “I guess I can make an effort to actually leave the house when we go shopping for food now… Instead of you dragging me out. I will CONSIDER taking this so-called rest as you put it. Consider.” She was firm as she nodded her head and smirked towards the demon once more.

“We’ll have to replace the windows those fools broke… Go poaching for large carnivorous plants for me to experiment on so I can have guard animals again. So much stuff to do and so little time to accomplish it in!”

She curled up with him after she pulled him down and put her head into his side. He was so warm and she looked so peaceful for once. After a few hours though Angela popped the tent open. "We are having a celebration of your sister Calanthe's safe trip here… You both are invited. There will be lots of food and sweets." Marin immediately perked up.

"What's the catch," Marin's eyes slit towards her mother as she settled into a little glare.

"Oh, just that Hendrix's brothers will be there… That's all." Angela left them be.

"Annoying brothers… cake… annoying brothers… cake." Marin seemed to be thinking about it hard. "Cake."

Hendrix shrugged at her, but what Marin said was practically true. When he would have gotten bored, he would let his curiosity of the world drive him elsewhere, likely to never see her again unless something came up. The fact that he hadn’t didn’t just speak out because he was lazy and didn’t want to find somewhere else to stay. Nay, there was more to the story that, from the looks of things, neither wanted to say and admit. His stoic face was shattered when she spoke up about him watching her. Or more so, parts of her. His face deepened in a reddish color and shook his head, “I just watched you in general, not…that.” It was clear that he was caught off-guard by the comment and was fixing to rectify it. In truth, he did watch her tinker with her projects though he had no interest in assisting her himself. For one thing, he didn’t have the experience she did, and another thing was that he didn’t want to get caught in some explosion she would cause.

Hendrix regained himself some as he thought about assisting her when the offer came out. The demon looked to her, a bit shocked but otherwise fine. “…Suppose I could, from time to time. But I’m serious- I don’t want to get exploded.” He reached for her spoon but missed easily. “At least then I wouldn’t be a freeloader, I guess.” She could have easily thrown him out of the house prior, but she seemed to enjoy his company enough. And to be honest, he did hers as well.

“Well, at least you are progressing now. Soon you might be ready for…conversation with another person”, he teased lightly. It was good for her to not be a complete shut-in; even he was faced with times where he had to stand the company of another and be interactive. It would do the woman some good, especially since the gods knew how long it had been since she last stepped out of her workshop, by choice. “We can fix everything and…uh…capture plants..” His words slipped by as he was brought back to the bed and was met with a resting Marin. He kept as still as possible, allowing her to get some sleep until her mother once again came unannounced. He doubted that either of them was the party going sort, but she seemed to be drawn in by the lure of sweets and such things. Meanwhile, he wasn’t too keen even with the promise of sugary foods and such when his own family would be involved in this affair. From what he understood from overhearing, Steele was due back soon and Dante’s behind was already here. Could things get worse?

Still, it seemed like Marin had her mind made up, and he couldn’t leave her here and in her condition to boot.

“As long as Dante keeps his mouth shut, I will come.” He didn’t expect any promises to be made, quickly learning that the man was as mouthy as he was horny.