"Foy's fine. Just... don't laugh at my name too much." Every person the blond met found something funny about his name, and he was sick of it at this point in his life.

There was a huge hint of vulnerability that he allowed himself to express, in everything, in the tone of his voice, in the expression on his face. Trusting that he was in good hands—metaphorically speaking.

“Foy…” It felt odd, to call someone so casually like that. Maybe it was his bias speaking, since he was over the moon about having the other as his friend, but he didn’t find anything laughable about the other’s name. “It sounds like something soft.” That might also be his bias to fluffy pillows that was speaking.

Getting a nickname of his own… He glanced to the side. It was almost embarrassing how he really wanted the other to call him by that nickname. “…T-Teu is fine. I don’t mind.” In fact, it would make him extremely happy to be called that. Ah, all of these heightened emotions felt so silly. He couldn’t help it, though.

"We can go out drinking together as often as we want." The restrictions should only be set by themselves, according to their own schedules. "Now if you don't want to… I'm going to feel like a terrible partner. Although I wouldn't want us to keep going out drinking because you feel sorry for me…"

Oh. They were friends. They really were friends. Okay, okay. Crap. Okay. Don’t freak out. Act normal. This is normal. They were friends now. People become friends all the time. Don’t get too excited. Don’t say anything weird.

“U-uh, friends. Yes. Yeah. Y-yeah! Friends, I mean. I want to.” Very normal response. Cool as a cucumber. This is how people usually respond to a friendship request, right? “Doing things together… er, like gathering vegetables, committing tax fraud, sleeping on the couch, graffiti-ing, manipulating souls…” Yeah no, he had absolutely no idea what friends did for fun. Not that the head butler himself was aware of how absurd those suggestions were. “Uh… changing lightbulbs…”

He watched as half of that glass emptied, and his surprise was immediate. It was behavior he wasn't going to imitate because he knew his own limits better than anyone, and if he did something that reckless, he'd get drunk in three minutes.

"I… I didn't ask you if we were going to split the bill or if I'd pay it now and you'd pay another time," he asked, but the way he said it suggested there would be a second or even third time to go out for drinks together.

“Huh? Uh… Split, I guess.” Usually, he’d be more stingy with his money, but it wasn’t like he was worried about it running out at the moment. Plus, the other definitely wasn’t as financially well-off as he was, so a part of him felt bad for letting him pay any of it in the first place, especially when the other had his sister to look after. The guy was a little too nice for his own good…

…It reminded him a little of himself when he was younger, a naive hard-worker. It wasn’t like he had the responsibility of taking care of a family member, though, and they definitely had different circumstances, so it’s not like he could give the guy any good advice... Wait a minute. “Pay another time?” There was going to be a next time?

The other was being nice to him. Too nice. They had to be friends at this point, right? This was totally friend-behavior. Maybe potential best friends? Or was this a regular friends kind of thing? What was the difference?

Fretting over these thoughts was getting him nowhere, so he took his wine instead, giving the other a small thanks before he downed half of the glass in one go. He honestly wished he could get drunk, because he really needed that alcohol courage sometimes. It was so hard to just outright ask the other if they were friends.

"You don't like crowds, do you?" The blond man was highly observant, and well, that worked in his favor this time.

Woah... The other was so reliable. He just single-handedly saved him from awkwardly trying to communicate with someone he didn’t know. He was starting to see the other’s heroic side, actually. A real hero through and through.

“Wine,” he confirmed the other’s guess, taking a glance around, before slowly pointing at a scheduled spot in the corner. “I’ll go wait over there. Er, thanks… for ordering.”

"I see" He had a feeling it was better not to ask about the Head Maid for the moment. "Oh, of course I can. It's just that drinking alone is a bit sad," not to say pathetic. "I'm more of a social drinker, but there are no companions of my age" Alba was younger and Foy was not going to approach his soldier, god no. And Crea was like a big kid, it didn't feel right to drag him into an activity like this.

Did that mean they were friends? Bonding over the fact that they both can legally drink? He wasn’t exactly the other’s age —he was several hundred years old, after all— but they were both technically adults, so maybe doing adult-like things together meant they were friends? The thought made him happy, but he didn’t know how to communicate that to the other, only letting a small noncommittal noise to show that he heard him.

When they eventually reached the tavern, he couldn’t help glancing around warily. “It’s crowded…” he noted, though he wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He wasn’t fond of loud places, but on the good side, it meant that they’re less likely to stand out.

“You save yourself from a big one” and well he was filing his taxes to be a model citizen, he had to be an example for his younger sister.

He folded the finished form and put it in the inside pocket of his coat.

“No… the only time I drink is when the Head Maid forces me to because she wants to complain about her lack of love life. It’s a pain to listen to, so I try to avoid her when she gets like that.” Ares. His dynamic with her was hard to explain, since they had a literal contract to pretend they were friends. She scared him, sometimes. “Er, I didn’t think you’d be the type to drink,” he mumbled, trying to carry out a conversation. These kinds of things didn’t come naturally to him. “You seem more… stiff, about relaxing.”

“Ok. Give me a few minutes, this will be quick…” or well it was supposed to, what should have taken five minutes almost took half an hour. When it was over he looked like he had just come out of a war.

“Mmn?” Meanwhile, it looked like the demon butler had just woken up from a nap, resting from a long, hard day of doing absolutely nothing. “Oh… you finished.” He sat up, stretching his arms over his head, before suppressing a yawn to lazily stand up. “You were taking forever, so I dozed off…. Taxes really seem like a pain. I’m glad I evade them.”

The head butler's words of comfort had had the expected effect. “You're right, family will always be family” and no one was going to take that away from him or rip it from his heart.

Foy felt lighter, with fewer worries to carry. He removed his hand from his interlocutor's shoulder, however, this budding confidence was just starting.

An invitation?? Whoa… he wasn’t sure how to react to that. This definitely meant that they were friends now, right? The prospect was making an unusual burst of energy course through his chest, and he had absolutely no idea what to do with it.

“Uh, ah… y-yeah. Drinking,” he awkwardly answered, a little hesitant. Coming off as too eager would be strange, right? The other was much friendlier than he thought he would be, though, so maybe he didn’t need to be too nervous. “That… that sounds nice.” It honestly made him a little curious, now that the guy didn’t seem as intimidating as before. He didn’t understand the concept of family, yet what he said appeared to have had a comforting effect on the other. Was it simply because they talked about it? If so, going out and talking over some drinks would have a good effect too, right?

“So, I'm glad you don't have to do it often. And that you're on our side, well, sort of. You know” he expressed himself glad for the budding confidence and touched Teufel's shoulder with his right hand in a friendly, male gesture.

Ah. The other touched his shoulder in that friendly way he saw friends do often. That meant they were friends now, right?

Although, he wasn’t sure how to empathize with the other about his sister’s independence, since he didn’t know how that kind of thing felt. Wouldn’t it be nicer not to have that responsibility anymore? It didn’t seem like the other was happy about it… This was confusing. Humans were odd creatures.

“But… she can only live her life now thanks to you, right?” he asked, in a weak attempt to cheer the other up. “I think you’ll always be her… family? I don’t get it but, you took care of her for so long. You’d always be a savior to her, maybe.”

There was an expression of amazement on his face, that kind of magic sounded cool.

“Something… like that.” This guy was a little too sharp. Well, he honestly didn’t really care about how souls looked or felt, especially since he had been in that line of work since a very young age. He couldn’t speak for the people who had their souls manipulated by him, though. “It’s uncomfortable for me, but only because I get really stiff shoulders after I use the power. I can’t move my arms for a while afterwards. It’s a pain… so I’d rather not use it.”

Talking about this felt odd. Did sharing this mean… that they’re friends now? Should he ask the other something, too? “Er,” he began, awkwardly, “how is… your sister?”

Chilling. Foy thought he had a thing or two to learn from him, but he didn't want to learn anything anymore.

“….Ah. I guess you might have been unconscious, back then.” The butler himself didn’t remember it all that well, back when he manipulated his sister’s soul. It was all a blur, especially since he took a lot of damage before Ares stepped in. All he knew was that he didn’t like that someone used his identity as a soul-manipulator to hurt the other’s sister. It made him feel responsible.

“Soul… stuff,” he relented with a half-answer, only because the other seemed genuinely curious. As a socially awkward person, he wasn’t sure how to handle people most of the time. Usually, he’d never tell people about his power since most of them try to use him for it, but something about how earnest the other was made him feel like he could tell him that much, at least.

“Is that how you've done it so far - sound like you know what you're doing?” Yes, the king was not the brightest sheep in the flock… but it still felt wrong to talk about someone like that behind their back.

“Yeah… That’s how I do it. I also make him pay me extra as compensation for thinking about making me work harder.” The butler was relentless when it came down to money and work negotiations. “I guess your position isn’t stable enough for that yet, though… If he threatens to fire you, just threaten him back by saying you’d expose his corruption and start a revolution to overthrow him. That’d make him cave in.” A yawn interrupted him, causing him to rub his eyes lazily. “…Or something like that.”