I stood there with my mind reeling while I connected the dots of what Dha quite likely wanted from me. Dha was looking at me with a massive fake smile and two thumbs up; in what was this a good idea? I glared at Dha, trying to figure out what could possibly be going through his mind. Krahinn would not take it well whatsoever. I couldn’t recall him ever showing any form of interest in another being.

  “Are you seriously saying that you have a bet with Andel on whether Krahinn eventually finds a partner?” I verified, making sure I didn’t just instantly assume the worst.

  “You see Luna, this is why I like you. You can put the dots together without them needing to be laid out for you.” Dha congratulated me. That was not a confirmation.

  “Dha, what are the terms of the bet,

  “Luna, you keep trying to rush the process. Relax, take a deep breath.” Dha suggested. The terms made it worse, and Dha was going to waste as much time as he could.

  “Then no, I guess; I can’t help you with this wager. If I do not know the terms, what could I possibly do?” I taunted Dha. Irritation oozed off of Dha in waves.

  “Why are you like this?” Dha sighed at me. I admired his ability to act like I was the problem when he was refusing to be forthcoming.

  “You want me to do something incredibly dangerous; you want me to meddle with Krahinn’s personal life and try to get him to at minimum date that !” I snapped at him, knowing date was likely not enough for the wager.

  “One, his name is Fresri. Two, as you suspected, date is not sufficient.” Dha clarified for me, like that clarification helped the situation.

  “Why?! Why would you make such a bet?!” I inquired while trying to glare through Dha’s presence. It wasn’t working of course, but it was a wonderful little daydream.

  “Because the return on investment is amazing. Everyone thought I was insane, that I stood no chance, and that I was throwing away usage making such a wager with Andel. And then, by some cosmic coincidence, Krahinn is apparently someone’s type. Fresri not only has the can-do attitude and blind determination to follow Krahinn, but there also happens to be a woman on the inside track with a love of meddling in relationships.” Dha explained to me. I gave him the most deadpan, unenthusiastic stare I could manage.

  “I do not like meddling,

  “Then how are we here again, with another meddling wager on the line?” Dha challenged me. His ability to ignore that he was the root cause was impressive.

  “Because you like those kind of wagers!” I roared at Dha. Dha made a noise that was aggravating.

  “Someone has a certain drive and enjoyment of making wagers with me, and here we go at the precipice of yet another wager.” Dha retorted, speaking in a tone that implied this was all my idea.

  “You summoned me here to get me to keep Fresri on Tenebrae and get with Krahinn. How far does the relationship need to go? Does Krahinn even like other beings romantically?” I inquired. Dha shifted awkwardly, clearly trying to tiptoe around the main issue.

  “Krahinn is just a bit frigid and needs a bit of time.” Dha tried deflecting.

  “Dha, I cannot win a wager I do not know the terms of. I am going to default to no if you do not clarify.” I stressed for him. Dha let out a massive dramatic sigh.

  “You are so boring and no fun.” Dha pouted while stamping his foot like a petulant child.

  “You are trying to get me to agree to meddling in Krahinn’s personal life for an and some cleaning up while you are being completely obtuse to the points. You know the requirements are absurd, and you likely know something about Krahinn I do not that makes this more difficult than it already seems.” I defended myself. Dha grumbled with incoherent noises for a few moments.

  “Krahinn might not be attracted to others. But… but no one has overly tried before so it might be possible.” Dha told me.

  “So, your bright idea is to take the one determined enough to follow him to Tenebrae, Fresri, and hope he can get a date with Krahinn? Get Krahinn to act like Nautilus? Some romantic connection?” I pressed, wanting more insight from Dha.

  “Romantic connection slash commitment; even that was seen as a one in a billion shot. I nearly doubled down further but Andel already was so generous at that point.” Dha admitted with a defeated huff.

  “I guess that makes this slightly better. So, for you to win, and by extension me, I just need to get Krahinn and Fresri to date? Or more accurately have Krahinn romantically interested in Fresri?” I verified, rubbing my temples a bit. The spiteful, wrathful, and rude Krahinn with someone who seemed nice, just excessively persistent.

  “See, you understand! I knew you would be down for this game.” Dha congratulated me, nodding his head like I already said yes.

  “Do you know how Krahinn is going to react if he finds out about this?” I checked, making sure Dha grasped the gravity of what he wanted out of me.

  “How about this, if you actually try, I clean up your a bit. That way, regardless of your success you get something out of it.” Dha offered. He was so generous; the fact he was willing to compensate me for even trying let me know how difficult this wager truly was.

  Did I want to meddle with Krahinn of all beings? I shuddered as I thought of how he’d react to learning that. Dha unfortunately loved games that crossed boundaries and were meddling in the affairs of others. It was hard to pass on an from a Lord especially one that didn’t involve nearly dying. Granted, Krahinn might try to kill me if he found out. I knew for a fact that Krahinn would have a disproportionate reaction regardless; maybe he would react less strongly if he knew it was for an .

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Fine, I will see what I can do. If I succeed, I get that , and regardless as long as I put out measurable effort you clean up my a bit.” I sighed at Dha. He did a happy hop while he clapped a bit.

  “That’s my favorite demon! I knew you’d agree!” Dha cheered ecstatically, popping off like he just won.

  “You seem to have a lot of faith in my abilities.” I pointed out to Dha who completely ignored that point.

  “I know you have the moxie needed to achieve success. Now go get them! I knew I could count on you!” Dha celebrated as the void vanished around me.

  I let out an annoyed sigh, knowing Dha was going to watch me with immense interest. No point in moping about it now; I needed to grab Nil and make sure Fresri didn’t leave Tenebrae, for now. That was cranky and had walls higher than the heavens around himself; honestly the fact Fresri persisted this far after realizing it was Krahinn was nothing short of miraculous. Well, I needed to use whatever motivated Fresri to get him to not so easily give up on pursuing Krahinn. I knew the instant I started I was getting a stern talking to from Nautilus at minimum. It took me very few moments to reach Nil’s room from the top of the stairs, where Nil looked exhausted still. He perked up when he saw me, smiling as much as he could. I smiled, loving how much Nil perked up when he saw me each time.

  “Luna.” Nil chimed, contently looking at me.

  “You have got to hear what someone wants.” I told Nil, beginning to backpack him.

  “But I was comfy.” Nil grumbled but not overly protesting or stopping me from picking him up.

  “Trust me, this will be worth it. I will make it worth your while too.” I assured Nil. Nil looked at me with a difficult to decipher expression.

  “Fine.” Nil conceded as he settled on me.

  I quickly rushed down the stairs, carrying Nil back to the lakeside. I saw Fresri, Nautilus, and Helga standing under the tree in the shade. Fresri was lithe, looking like he lacked much muscle as a whole. Fresri seemed like some kind of jay, with colorful feathers that were an interesting mix of red on his face and neck, blue on his arms and legs, and black towards his fingers and feet. Fresri possessed azure eyes that shined kind of on their own. No idea how to judge whether or not he stood a chance with Krahinn, but he at least had enough determination to follow Krahinn to Tenebrae. He visibly shuddered when he saw us which might have been Nil’s currently immense presence. I needed to focus on the game at hand, not be distracted by irrelevant details.

  “Why are you glaring at me?” Fresri probed, sounding a bit uncomfortable.

  “Luna told me I had to absolutely hear what you had to say.” Nil answered while clearly stifling a yawn.

  “Not you, Luna.” Fresri clarified.

  “Please tell me so I can go sleep.” Nil pleaded, sounding exhausted.

  “I want a date with Krahinn.” Fresri confessed, looking a bit flustered.

  “Told you, Nil.” I added on, feeling Nil containing his reaction. Without any prodding, Nil summoned Krahinn, probably to see where this went.

  “I should go.” Fresri stated with a sigh, but I wasn’t going to let him go so easily.

  “Yes, you should.” Krahinn agreed, clearly wanting Fresri gone.

  “Hold on a second.” I stopped them. The look of shock on Nautilus and Helga’s face as I heard Krahinn’s neck pop next to me from how he snapped his head so quickly towards me.

  “What?” Krahinn snarled in a tone that told me this was going to be a massive uphill battle.

  “Fresri could stay.” I continued, seeing Nautilus and Helga starting to put the dots together.

  “I pardon your finest forl. What words are leaving your mouth?” Krahinn challenged me, seeming stunned by what I was saying. I needed to think of some reason for Fresri to stay. I should’ve asked Dha for some selling points, but I was so annoyed by his unwillingness to be forthcoming it slipped my mind.

  “Krahinn, you said finding a compatible is quite difficult. Does Fresri possess a compatible ?” I tried, praying that Fresri had . Krahinn’s face let me know just how furious he was.

  “Pest, what is your ?” Krahinn growled as his was swirling aggressively.

  “.” Fresri answered. That was thankfully a starting point.

  “What did you say to Luna?” Krahinn interrogated, while Nautilus and Helga already deduced the answer judging by their wildly unapproving expressions.

  “Nothing. She came up, asked why I was here, went to grab Nil because she thought it was funny, and came back.” Fresri explained while defensively putting his hands up. There was a tense silence that hung in the air.

  Nil requested in a tone that made it clear that he had zero interest currently. That would likely come later once he was feeling a bit better.

  “Krahinn, do you mind taking Nil back to his room?” I requested. Krahinn’s eyes were boring into me as just how furious he was began seeping into the air.

  “Why would I leave this pest unattended?

  “So, you want to spend more time with him?” I taunted Krahinn. For the briefest moment, I felt my body nearly disintegrate from Krahinn’s fury.

  “Fine.” Krahinn spat, carefully grabbing Nil and vanishing. Nautilus and Helga both stared at me as they reached the same conclusion.

  “Um, I’m not overly interested in being a .” Fresri told me now that it was the four of us.

  “We can discuss that more later.” I assured him. Fresri looked so confused as to why I was pushing for that. Krahinn already reappeared, his annoyance turning the sky crimson.

  “Krahinn, do you mind taking Fresri to a waiting area while I have a quick discussion with Nautilus and Helga?” I checked. Krahinn seemed stunned that I was being so bold.

  “Have you lost your mind?!” Krahinn asked, trying to determine if he was more flabbergasted or enraged by my actions.

  “No, I think you need to take a minute to process and take time for yourself. You are the only being who can quickly move around; I would ask Nil, but he cannot currently.” I answered, with Krahinn’s eyes twitching as he thought it over.

  “K’ahinn, d’ ya min’ please helpin’? We gotta chat wit’ da lass.” Nautilus added as her gaze let me know how displeased she was.

  “Ten minutes. You have, ten minutes.” Krahinn conceded, roughly grabbing Fresri before vanishing.

  “Luna! Did you make another wager with Dha?!” Helga snapped at me immediately.

  “Good, you both already know the why.” I tried, wanting to assuage their current anger. The two of them looked utterly incensed.

  “Did you not learn your lesson last time?!” Helga roared. The two of them were clearly not happy with that news.

  “I did.” I squeaked while Nautilus and Helga both glared at me with immense hatred.

  “Then why ya doin’ it lass?!” Nautilus pressed, not grasping why I was willing to make such a wager.

  “Because Dha offered an and give me some help even for trying.” I admitted shamefully. The two seemed taken aback, looking a bit stunned.

  “Really?” Helga probed. Both of them looked less angry.

  “Yes, for trying regardless of success Dha agreed to help clean up my to try and reach . If I succeed in getting Krahinn to romantically commit to Fresri, or anyone for that matter, I get an .” I explained to them. Both looked at each other uneasily.

  “So, Fresri ya choice cause he persisten’ fo’ Krahinn.” Nautilus inquired. The two looked less than thrilled still, but nowhere near as angry as they initially were.

  “Correct.” I answered, hoping the two understood.

  “I mean, are immensely rare, aren’t they?” Helga checked with Nautilus who nodded to confirm.

  “Ya know th’ bird ain’ gonna take i’ well?” Nautilus inquired with a heavy sigh.

  “Yes.” I sighed. The two looked at me with conflicted expressions, before looking at each other for a quick conversation.

  “We won’t help you, but we won’t stop you.” Helga conceded, shaking her head at me.

  “Thank you.” I told them with a hug, knowing it was the best I was getting.