I guess i needed a friend

Proteus have been kneeled praying for a long while, parying to be forgiven for what he had done, praying for Cinderella, praying that her wouldn't have to suffer too much... Only after a lot of hours he had sitted on one of the chairs, with the kneels that were hurting for how long he had been in the same position, and still he hadn't stopped to pray, his head rested on his hands. It was a silent pray, but it was keeping him really focused on it.

Sinbad had been feeling better for a while after his abstinces had stopped. But that also meant he had to start dealing with his thoughts about his past and the whole situation in this place. He still wasn't completely sure how to react to it, and still had a hard time believing this was really happening.
He had mostly kept to himself, but now he had decided to go sit down in the living room for a little while. When he entered the room he noticed Proteus. Sinbad sat down on a chair not too far away from him.

Proteus was still praying silently when he felt a presence close to enough to him to make him turn his head, and immediatly after he had recognized SInbad he smiled to him. He didn't even know how much he had been there, he was so taken by the pray that he didn't liste him arriving "Sinbad! How's going?" he asked generic, but he knew what trouble his friend had having: he didn't want to push him into talk, but if he wanted he was there, thought his tired face showed that he wasn't either in his best form.

Sinbad smiled vaguely at Proteus when he turned his head.
"Somewhat better than to begin with," he replied before he studied his friend. "But you look terrible. Are you alright, man?" he asked concerned.

He smiled back, a tired smile, and nodded: he didn't need to say that he was there for him, they had been friends for so long that he already knew that.
At his question he shacked a bit his head "Ah, don't worry... i've just... allowed a demon to join the rectory, putting all of us in danger, and she has attacked Cinderella, and of course now Father Frollo thinks it would have been better if i died." he replied in a joking tone, but it was obvious he was really tormented by it.

Sinbad moved his chair a little closer to Proteus' and turned it around. He sat down on it with his front against the back of the chair and laid his arms on top of the chair's back and rested his head on them.
It was clear to see that his friend was really in pain from what he had done.
"Hmm," he said and thought about what Proteus had said for a while. "Can't we try to get the demon out of here again?" he suggested eventually.

He shaked his head with a weak smile "At least the demon is no longer here, i think we could do more traps... but... she overcame them in front of me..." he said with frustration, still without getting how it had been possible "I don't know, maybe I should just be more careful... i'll start to threw holy water to every new face i see!" he said it with a tone half serious and half jokingly "Well, luckily Cinderella is safe... more or less... but she hasn't killed her."

Sinbad placed a comforting hand on Proteus' back.
"At least nothing to bad happened. And if you are just careful in the future I'm sure it'll be alright. I know you'll be able to take care of those demons."

He smiled weakly again at Sinbad and, moving his glance to look at nowhere in front of him, he replied "Have you ever imagined that you would have met a demon? That they would have been like... like this? I mean, i believed that they were real but... but not like that!"

"As you know I've never really been sure what to think about these kind of things... So no, it has surprised me quite a lot," he said while still comforting Proteus.
"How is Cinderella after what happened?"

He perfectly knew how the friend had always had problems in believing, he wasn't surprised by his answer, but... this situation had surprised even him! At his question he sighed "Father Frollo has closed her in the bathroom, she needs to be taken under control for a while... the demon forced her to drink her blood, for what i understood it works like a drug and now she's addicted." He sighed again "I only hope that Cindy won't suffer too much... and that she'll be fine" he used the short form of her name without even noticing it, thought the friend would surely have noticed: he was the only one that had always knew about his huge crush for the girl, and he had always been so shy toward her... a detail like that couldn't be missed.

"Demon blood?" Sinbad repeated for himself as he tried to understand what Proteus was telling him.
"I'm sure she'll be alright," he said trying to comfort his friend. "So have you gotten a chance to talk more with her?" Sinbad asked with a sly smile.

He sighed when the friend tried to conforted him and nodded: yeah, she would have been fine... he knew... he had to believe it...
At his last question he smiled embarassed and, putting a hand on his neck, he replied "Well... i've actually gone farther... i told her that i loved her and she has became my girlfriend" he said it with a dreaming smile, but then his expression changed becoming a bit sadder when he continued "But i guess she will leave me as soon as she'll know that is because of me that she has been attacked... it will be the shortest engagement of the whole history!" he replied joking bitterly

When Proteus told about Cinderella, Sinbad smiled. He was happy for his friend that he had finally been able to start something with the girl he had liked for so long. But his smile faded as Proteus continued.
"But you didn't do it on purpose. I'm sure she'll understand that," he said, trying to cheer Proteus up a bit. "You should ask Frollo if you can talk to her and explain it as soon as she gets better," he suggested.

"But it's still my fault" he replied shrugging: there had been many ways to avoid what had happened, and he hadn't been careful enough. He had to take the blame.
At his phrase he couldn't help but laugh a bit "I suppose is better if i don't meet Father Frollo for a while!" But then, smiling at SInbad and giving him a pat on the shoulder he continued "Don't worry, i'm fine. I'll just be... calmer when Cindy will be out of that bathroom and i'll be able to talk to her again... if she will want to."

It was so like him. Proteus had always been so... so noble.
"Okay, but if there's aything I can do to help me," Sinbad said with a little smile. ".. just let me know, okay?" Proteus had always been there for him, even through his worst periods. So he was determined to do the same for him.

Protues nodded with a thankful smile "Trust me, having you here is more than enough" Sinbad had always been like a brother to him, and, thanks to his attitude, he had always been able to cheer him up and to make him take lighter his problems.
"So... have you seen Odette in those days?" he asked casually changing subject

"Yes, I've been with her for a while. She helped me through when the abstinces got really strong," he said as he remembered how she had taken care of him. "But I'm afraid she's still mad at me," he said in a sad voice.

He gave him a pat on the shoulder, sympathetic. He felt guilty to not have been there with him when he had needed it, but... if he had been with Odette, he guessed it had been better in that way. "Well... maybe she is, but she still cares for you, and since we are all trapped here... it could be an occasion to talk to her... to mend fences." what he thought and didn't say was that it could also be the last occasion to do it...

"Hmm yeah, maybe," he said with a vague smile. Even though this situation gave him a chance to talk more to her than he had the past few years, he still wished she didn't have to be in this dangerous situation.
"It's just.. I have no idea how to start talking to her... What to say," he said in an upgiven tone.

"Oh, you can start with something like: hey, i gave up with alcohol, wanna talk?" he couldn't help but reply teasingly: he knew that the situation was really bad, that there wasn't a lot to laugh about, but he couldn't help, and in all that mess he needed to laugh a bit... and probably so did Sinbad

"That might not be such a bad idea," he laughed. But then he got more serious. "Either way I should at least thank her for taking care of me," he said before he got up. "Good luck with Cinderella. I'm sure it'll all work out."

He laughed with Sinbad, then, when he got more serious and got up, he nodded at his words, to reply then "Good luck to you with Odette." he smiled to him and greeted him with a nod of the head: thanks to him now he was feeling better. It was probably selfish to him think this, but he was glad to have SInbad there in that moment.