Step 1: Attend abusive wife's party celebrating our lack of a divorce, a party you are barely invited to despite it taking place in your home
Step 2: Receive verbal abuse and sexual harassment from abusive wide at said party. Get tastefully shit-faced to survive the ideal.
Step 3: Discover childhood friend crashing that party and reconnect with some playful banter and pleasant conversation.
Step 3: Experience the sexiest and greatest night of your life with someone who (seems to) wants you, then fall asleep in his arms and have the best sleep of your life.
Step 4: He revealed your affair with your abusive ex wife immediately in the morning and now she knows. She was already horrible to you before, but that was just controlling. Now she is behaving aggressively hostile toward you because of her humiliation. Life is now significantly worse, both because she knows you cheated on her and because you've had a taste of what it feels like to be wanted and your needs prioritized without you having to beg or do all the work.
Step 5: He took the grimoir. It's just like when you were children and you played pirates together, only more like that romance novel where the love interest was playing "chase" with the protagonist. He was so passionately into you you feel 100% confident about asking him to come back to return what he playfully stole so you can have another passionate night. The wretched wife is already pissed at you, having this oasis is the only thing getting you through the day, since your daughter has begun avoiding you.
Step 6: He can't come. But... for a good reason, right? He wants you. The sex was good. He was not only okay with having sex with you, it was his idea and he had been enthusiastic. You can fix this by going to see him. After all, you do need that book...
Step 7: He wasn't smiling and excited the way you are, but he was enthusiastic anyways. You're the weird one here. People don't smile at you or act happy to be with you. But he wants to see you again. He wants to keep the book so you can meet each other again, and that's good. Right?
Step 8: He hasn't come back. The wife has gotten worse, your daughter hates you, and your only friend is maybe avoiding you? And he has your very important book. Not good. You don't want to lose your only friend and force him to give it back, he's using it after all. But you need to book too. And you need to find time with him somehow, so, how about a regular and established deal? Since he doesn't appear to appreciate you dropping by his office unannounced?
Step 9: Profit. Your smart and strong and sexy and funny friend with benefits gives you life and you adore him. You didn't realize sex was this much fun. He has so many wonderful ideas, and toys, and sometimes he is grumpy but he enjoys your silly little games too, you can tell. He likes horses and drawing and he has a daughter now too who he loves very much and he makes arch better parent than your horrid wife does (who still makes your life painful the rest of the month you don't get to spend with your friend). Blitz is amazing! Such a good business man, just like he said he would be when you were children!
Step 10: Go on a date together. He invited you, and you cannot believe it! You enjoy spending time with him, but you always thought he was opposed to relationships like that. This is a dream come tr-
Step 10: Oh. This isn't fun for him.
Step 11: Fix this. Get him an Asmodean crystal and set him free from this deal you hadn't realized had been like shackles to him. Wasn't it his idea? Doesn't matter, he doesn't like it, you can fix this. You don't want to lose your only friend. If he found the bravery to stand up to you, you can stand up to your wife. Divorce her ass.
Step 12: He yelled at you for making everything about sex, he's yelling at you for trying to change that. He's saying hurtful things that sound like your ex wife used to say and things the man who tried to kill you had said. He won't leave when you try to walk away, the way your ex wife would.
Step 14: no wife. No blitz. No Octavia. Wallow. This is a hell of your own making, this is what you get for missing everything, misreading all the cues, and being greedy.
Step 15: he's about to be publicly executed.
Step 15: throw your life away to save his because you love him you idiot even if you ruined his life and made him hate you. You may die
Step 16: Survive. For the same crime he was meant to be executed for, you will be banished. And now he is soft and sweet. He is not angry. He is not yelling. He is touching you and bathing you and staying by your side as you lose everything. You have nothing now, except for him.
Step 17: He loves you. But, that is the only thing you know now.
