So Ellis began to try to "coax" him.
The first step: lower your guard.
Instead of going directly to Nix to apologize, he chose to show his "attitude" in some small things.
For example, he would occasionally leave Nicks' favorite snacks on his desk, pretending that he had put them there.Although Nix was initially unimpressed, the treat would disappear the next day, indicating that he had eaten it anyway.
For example, he would make dinner with Nix's favorite ingredients, and even though Nix still looked like "I'm not eating it because you made it", it was at least a little bit better than before when he was in the cold war.
For example, instead of intervening directly when Nix's pranks were complained about by other mentors, he would give him a little leeway to clean up his own mess.
Step 2: Create an opportunity for contact.
One night, Ellis was in his study organizing his ancient books, and Nyx had been sitting on the windowsill, bored and looking out into the night.
Ellis suddenly spoke up, "Would you like to take a look at this one?"
Nyx lazily turned his head and glanced at the cover of the book, "The Origins of the Abyssal Summoning Techniques?You don't want me to proofread it for you, do you?"
"No."Ellis calmly turned the page, "There's a passage here about the origins of Demon Contracts that I remember you asking about before."
Nyx froze, he did ask casually once, but he didn't expect Ellis to remember.
Slowly he hopped down from the windowsill and walked over to the desk and sat down, pretending to casually pick up the book and flip through a few pages, "That paragraph isn't written correctly, at least that isn't how demonic pacts work nowadays."
Ellis glanced at him and handed over a pen, "Change it then."
Nyx took the pen and began to carefully annotate the pages.
The atmosphere of the cold war silently loosened in this moment.
Step 3: The final "feeding" tactic.After Nix's mood had eased, Ellis prepared for the final step.
He spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen, crafting a special dish - not just a special flavor, but a magical dish with strong mood swings.
Nyx had always been interested in food with strong emotions, and Ellis this time deliberately infused the dish with his emotions of the past few days: anger, helplessness, restraint, and even a hint of imperceptible tenderness.
When he walked over to Nyx with the plate of cuisine, Nyx was trying to remain aloof, but his expression instantly became subtle when he smelled the familiar and tantalizing wave of magic.
He stared at the plate of food for a long time before raising his eyes with a complicated tone, "What do you want?"
Ellis looked at him lightly, "What do you think?"
Nyx gritted his teeth and finally picked up his fork, viciously spearing a piece of food and shoving it into his mouth.
It tasted unexpectedly to his taste, one could even say it fit his preferences perfectly.He never ate anything but sweets at the restaurant, and Ellis cooked three meals a day for him personally every day.
He ate a few bites in silence, his mouth still unwilling to admit it, "Hmph, count on you having some sincerity."
Ellis raised an eyebrow slightly, "So, are you still mad?"
Nyx paused for a moment and grunted, "... Never mind, for the sake of this meal, I'll just barely stay mad."
The corners of Ellis' mouth curved imperceptibly.
He knew that Nyx was on the verge of being coaxed.
Nyx was definitely not a demon who would be easily coaxed over a meal.
His arrogance, his pride, and his willfulness doomed him to not forgive Ellis just because of a plate of flavorful cuisine.To make him truly demoralized, Ellis would have to actually put in action and make him feel that his emotions were seen and valued, rather than just being glossed over.