Breakfast time

Proteus stepped once more in the kitchen, followed by Miriam, he was wearing again his shirt since the little cut had stopped to bleed.
"So… what would you like to eat? There are some eggs… i can prepare an omelette… or there's some pasta, and there are tomatoes…" he asked her looking in the belief: even if it was supposed to be only a breakfast, he got that she had to be really hungry and a generous meal would probably be the best idea.

"Bread will do," she said as she leaned back against the counter. It was not just that she was being humble, but at the moment she did not have the patience to wait on food, and just wanted something that could easily be made quickly. Bread seemed like a reasonable choice.
She cried out in pain as her wound hit the edge of the counter, and quickly pulled away from it again, standing on her feet.
It was a shame the kitchen didn't have any table or chairs to offer, as she was so tired and weak in that instant she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to stand up. She went for the second best option, and raised herself up on the counter, sitting next to the sink.

"Bread will be" he replied, looking again in the mobile to check where the bread was, when he heard her cry in pain he turned surprised and a bit worried, but he simply asked her "are you ok?", then finally finding the bread, he stepped toward her handing her a piece of bread.

"Fine," she replied flatly. She was far from fine, but there was nothing either of them could do about her injuries or pain, so there was really no point in talking about it only to feel sorry for herself. It was a pathetic gesture, a cry for attention, and she did not want that.
As he walked towards her with the bread she quickly snatched it from his hands and took a big bite of it. The feeling of solid food in her mouth was enough to make her moan in deep pleasure as she chewed it. Even if it was dry, stale bread, it tasted like heaven.

He looked at her for a few moment, suppressing a soft laugh when she moaned in pleasure for the food. He didn't need to eat, he had already eaten a few hours before and it was enough for the moment, but on the other hand he had came earlier to drink and, after his discussion with Miriam he hadn't done it anymore, and now he realized his mouth was really dry. He approached the sink and, taking a glass, he filled it and took a long sip of water.

After a couple more bites she let the bread rest in her lap as she looked at him puzzled.
"Why are you so nice to me?" she asked him flatly, looking back down on the piece of bread in her hands. She had been nothing but horrible to him, and though she felt like he deserved it, she felt bad when she saw how he repayed her with kindness. Still, she stuck to her old words, knowing if he didn't toughen up he would get himself killed. What he needed was to be able to slash at a demon's throat without hesitating. Even a second's hesitation could cost him his life. He was still rather pathetic to her, but she couldn't help but... like him, in a way.

As he finished to drink, he put the glass in the sink and washed it before to hear her questioning him. He turned toward her slightly surprised by her question.
"Shouldn't I be nice to you?" he asked after a few seconds with a smile.

She laughed, knowing he just might think the obvious answer to his question was the opposite of what it was.
"No, you shouldn't," she answered him, knowing her own reasons. The reasons that should be obvious to everyone, but somehow still managed to get overlooked and ignored by most people. She would never understand why the human race would put kindness above survival, but it seemed like they did it a lot.

He smiled again to her, then he rested his back on the wall and looking again at her, he replied "It's just my attitude, it's what i've been taught to act and what i'm comfortable to do. I am this kind of person." he shrugged: he didn't know if it was enough for her as explanation, but he didn't know what else he could say.
"If you're worried if i'll act the same with demons, don't worry, i won't." he replied, guessing that the 'tough girl' could see his attitude as a weakness

"And if the demon had me in its grasp, threatening to kill me if you started the spell? Would you hesitate then?" she asked with a tiny smile thinking of how unlikely it would be for her to get herself in that kind of situation, but this hypoyhesis would work for any human.
It would help nothing if he would hesitate in a moment like that. If a demon had gotten his hands on her she would either find a way out herself, or the demon would kill her anyway as soon as Proteus would put down his guard, and by then he would be next.
With this in mind she took another bite of the bread, anticipating his responce.

At her question he frowned and closed his eyes: would have he hesitated?
"I don't know" he replied in the end after a few seconds "It depens from a lot of things... I surely wouldn't like to let you die, but on the other hand i would probably have no guarantees that, stopping myself, the demon would actually let you go... If you would be caught, you would probably be dead however." those words were hard, but he knew she wasn't the kind of girl to be frightened by a similar discussion

She smiled at his words, but yet she could not help but wonder if he would act the way he said.
"If it comes to that, think of yourself first," she said as she jumped off the counter, putting the bread down. She hadn't eaten much of it, but after so long with nothing she already felt stuffed to her brink, and she couldn't eat another bite if she forced it down her throat.
"I can either find a way out myself, or I only got myself to blame," she shrugged, believing her own words. It was all a game of chess, and if she lost she could not be dependant on someone else to help her. In the same scenario she hoped he didn't expect her to risk her own life to save his. They were all alone in this game, and they were playing for themselves. Not for each other. The least thing she needed was another life in her hands other than her own. She did not want that responcibility.

He smiled to her but didn't reply: if he would have had to sacrifice her life, he wouldn't have done it to save himself, but most likely to save the others, and if he had to choose between her and himself he would have probably chosen her.
But talk and discuss about it seemed so pointless, everyone could be goo to say something similar, find himself in a similar situation was different.
After a few moments he looked at her again and asked "So... want to talk about those weapons, now?"

"You mean how you want to walse out of the rectory, down the sanctuary, through the nave, straight through the entrance wing - which by the way is full of demons, and I mean full, trust me - down to the crypt, which has no escape paths and is always occupied by at least one very powerful demon, and then maybe be able to grab one knife before we run for our lives back to the rectory, once again through demon territory?" she asked in such a happy voice she could only have been mocking him. The plan was a suicide mission.
"No thank you, you'll have to do that one without me. If we found a way across the spire, maybe, but even that would be deadly. Besides, there is no way through the spire, the hole is far too big to jump across, and we have nothing to put across it and balance on."

He couldn't help but laugh at her words: said in that way it really seemed impossible, but in the end it had been really useful, since he had had no idea about where the weapons were.
"Well, that seems an interesting plan" he replied jokingly "maybe we can save it for later, but for now i was thinking more something like... trap a lonely demon and steal the weapons to him. Wasn't that the way you obtained that blade?" he knew it was far from an easy thing, and that was still dangeroues, but actually it wasn't impossible, and in 2 or 3 they maybe could have a chance...

"Good plan," she smiled, but it didn't last long. "But not many demons carry weapons," she told him, having gotten a good look at the demons in the entrance wing before she fled. To be honest, Rin was the only demon she had ever seen with a blade.
"Still, I'd be up for a good exorcism right about now," she laughed weakly. She really did not enjoy exorcising those things, knowing the scene she would have to witness after doing so. The horrible panicked screams of pain, choking on their own blood, as they desperatly tried to beg for help, though there was nothing she could do. There was nothing anyone could do to save them.
He face quickly grew grave and serious as her mind wandered to that night with great horror.

He sighed when she pointed out that not every demon carried weapons, but at her words he nodded: after all, exorcise a demon would be probably even better, and if the number of demons lowered they could even hope to actually enter in the crypt...
"Then we can go. But shouldn't you take a weapon with you?" he asked unsure: he knew that their weapons were only a few, but go out without any didn't sound really safe...

"Frollo handed out all his weapons," she pointed out, knowing Frollo would never keep an armoury to himself during a war like this one.
"I was stupid enough to loose mine, and no one else will be stupid enough to hand over theirs," she grinned amused thinking about it.
"No one even likes me," she laughed, not really phased by this fact, she wasn't trying to make friends, but it meant she would not have anyone to go to in a crisis. Still, she had never been dependent on anyone before, and this wasn't the worst situation she had been in.
"I'll survive. I always do," she said to reassure him everything was okay.

He nodded at her first words: he knew that Frollo had already shared his weapons, and nobody would have gave away his own weapon knowing the risk to stay without any... but still it was risky, and there should be something there... damn, even a fork would have been better than nothing! He wondered even to give her his own blade, but even if she was good with it, he was still more expert with weapons and would have probably been a better idea stay there to protect her than give her his knife...
"But there should be something... even a frying pan if there's nothing better!" he replied opening the first mobile in front of him, searching for something useful
"And by the way i can't talk for the others but i surely don't dislike you" he replied, giving her a fast smile before to look again in the mobile

She smiled, knowing he had all the reasons in the world not to, and couldn't really understand why he did, but she wasn't one to argue about that kind of thing. There were far more important things they could argue about if she ever wanted a fight. Besides, his words made her happy.
"Demons don't feel pain," she answered him, explaining why a frying pan would essentially be useless.
"Except from iron, salt and holy water of course," she explained further, though this was something everyone knew now.

"But if you have a good frying pan and you use it in the right way you can even break a knee to a person, that would actually give you an advantage" he replied, finally finding an old frying pan heavy enough to actually can hurt if used as a weapon, he handed it to her "It's not exactly elegant or good, but you can't know if you would need it."

"A broken knee will only stop you if you can feel it," she sighed, waving off the frying pan he offered her, and instead took the bag off her shoulder and laid it on the counter, opening it to show salt and a bottle of holy water. It was all she needed against demons.
"I'm prepared," she told him, making it clear she needed anything else. A knife had been nice, but she could manage without.

He sighed but nodded, respecting her decision: after all she was right, salt and holy water would have been more effective.
"So we can go." He replied, moving to leave the kitchen: as her, he had with him all he needed...