I returned to the hotel to see Osric sitting at a desk reading something in his normal black attire.
I just returned from sightseeing as the days before I completely forgot my promise to send photos of all the sightseeing areas around me. I asked Osric is he wanted to go in the morning but just shook his head closed the door behind me as I left.
I hung my bag and coat in the hooks and went over to see what he was reading.
"What's that?"
He continued to read and pretended I wasn't there. I sighed and looked over his shoulder at the piece of paper. It was letter and the envelope that was clearly opened very carefully was lying in the desk.
"Give it,"
I said as I snatched the letter from his grasp. I didn't think it through as if he gripped it properly the letter would of ripped in half. As I read the letter I headed over to the bed to sit down as the chair was occupied by him. It was addressed to me and it had all the information about the school I was going to attend and as I flipped through also receipts for invoices, uniform, textbooks and participation in activities as well as a formal letter of approval from the principal of my old private school to move schools. Right, my old school. The principal. The organisation. I haven't confirmed anything yet. I still have yet to answer any questions.
I folded the paper back up and went to grab the envelope to put it back in, then going to my bag I stashed it away there for the time being.
"Why are you moving schools?"
Osric said as his first words. Our relationship since the summoning hasn't exactly been great, there is tension and distrust in here. I don't know what's going through his head and I don't want to barge into his personal life, he's here to help me achieve my goal and nothing else. I yanked him out of his world for the fate of this world. Let's hope it pays off.
"Because I want to get away from the grip of my parents. It's suffocating. "
I told him and I opened my drawer.
"And why do you need to go overseas to visit your brother?"
He asked another, seems his curiosity was getting the better of him.
"Because he ran away from home when he was younger, I don't live with him. Actually I thought he was dead."
I had cloths in hand and was walking towards the bathroom.
"Why didn't you follow him?"
"I'm an independent person and so is he, I don't know when and how he ran, I just know that he did."
I said from inside the bathroom. I was taking my cloths off and feeling happy about the fact that I was having a conversation with the demon that I summoned. Hopefully it won't be so awkward around him in the near future.
The water ran and I relished the feeling of warm water droplets hitting my back with a soothing pressure that was barely noticeable. I stood there for sometime just thinking. Thinking about how this crazy world was just so normal. Is it possible to be that way?
I got out and I could still see the steam from the hot water. I was taking a shower. I was doing something normal. No servants to give me my cloths, no one there asking whether I need them to wash my back. No disturbances. I could finally hear just the left over droplets of the shower, dripping onto the wet tile floor.
"Your turn,"
I said to Osric as I walked out of the shower with a towel on my damp hair and pulling my shirt down .
He got up and went to my drawer, I brought him cloths as he was going to be here for quite a while. And no, we do not sleep on the same bed. We take turns sleeping on the sofa and today I sleep on the bed.
...
He was lying on the sofa in his grey pyjamas that I brought him and I heard him shuffle. It was the first noise at night I heard him make in a while.
"What's wrong?"
I asked him as his actions were out of the ordinary.
"Are you happy as you are now?"
I was a bit taken aback by the unexpected question but nevertheless I thought about it seriously.
"I'm content in the current time, I've made real friends in the past year, I've met my brother who I thought was dead, I'm away from the Coltus name temporarily and I have you to keep me company here in the hotel. Though if you ask if I'm happy with my life, that's another story altogether,"
He closed his eyes as he listened to me answering his question.
"What's Coltus?"
Oh, whoops, I forgot to tell him about the current situation.
"Coltus is my last name, the name is also my chains. I'm sure you can relate to this as I knew you are a high class demon yourself. Actually it'll make more sense if I start from the beginning,"
And off I went, I explained the hierarchy, I gave a summary of my childhood and of the past events, this included school, recent kidnappings, the principal etcetera. All my problems and inner thoughts about the whole ordeal that I was in, I spilled all of it out. I don't know why I did that to someone I hardly knew and a demon at that, but I felt like it. That was my reasoning, I felt like it.
The whole time Osric just listened without a sound, not even a shuffle and he had his eyes closed the entire time but I knew he wasn't asleep, in fact he was listening to every single word I said and it felt reassuring. Someone was listening to me, finally.
"And that's it,"
After those last three words he opened his eyes to reveal his icy blue irises.
"Michael Malligane Coltus, the grown up child of the family and the noble ghost of the world. Not bad,"
And that night, I swear, he smiled at me. I couldn't see properly in the dark with my normal eyes but I swear he smiled.