Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 28: Risen

Where do I even begin? Maybe it would be less embarrassing if I just said it outright. Nox was abusing my love for food... and I was utterly falling for it.

Nope, definitely still humiliating...

Regardless, I had to admit that her new approach was making a difference. Instead of blatant flirting as I had come to expect from her, she used food against me. Okay, it wasn't all food, she had also changed her attitude to be more tolerable, especially when it came to Nibbler. In fact, her behavior around Nibbler had changed so much that it was almost scary. I'd have to get back to that oddity later.

Anyway, the humiliating part wasn't that I was tempted by food. No, no, the humiliating thing was that I hadn't realized what was happening for a solid week, even after the obvious comment she made after she first showed us her skill with food. She worked extra hard on 'making' food before I woke up, then presented it to me with a big smile. Of course, I was usually hungry when I woke up, and I'd be stupid to pass on free food, so, of course, I ate it without questioning why. Besides, my body desperately needed the food; I was still a long way from full recovery.

She was also clever. She used the food to distract me while she edged closer and closer, though she had yet to touch me while eating. But that wasn't all. She also covered the food in her scent somehow. That way, when I ate the food, I'd also smell her scent, thereby subconsciously attributing her smell to something I enjoyed. 

Nibbler told me all of that, by the way. She didn't want me to get manipulated. All it did was make me feel like an idiot.

On the topic of Nibbler, Nox had started to treat her much better and seemed to regard her with awe. I suspected that had something to do with seeing Nibbler's scarred throat and missing tongue. Whatever the reason, Nox didn't get as snippy with her as she used to, though that problem hadn't really disappeared. I just assumed that that was merely who Nox was, rude and quick to insult.

Surprisingly, Nibbler didn't like the 'new Nox.' She claimed that Nox's sudden admiration was unnerving, even though it was a better alternative than being attacked. In light of that, Nibbler seemed determined to thwart Nox's efforts to be alone with me, insisting that she didn't trust the 'new Nox.' Nox didn't appear to be bothered by that. She still gave Nibbler a share of the food, and Nibbler always ate it. I wondered if Nox was attempting to get Nibbler on her side using food, but, if she was, it was clearly ineffective against her

It bothered me that Nox had found an easily exploitable weak spot to get to me. It bothered me even more that my opinion of her had changed slightly. She wasn't as much of an annoyance anymore, she was... interesting. Sometimes, I watched her as she cautiously inspected common plants whenever we were lazing about outside, which was most of what we could do while we recovered. I didn't know why, but it was mildly entertaining.

Nibbler warned me about all of this last night, and I slept fitfully since then. Nibbler, as usual, slept in the comfort of my wing, resting her head in the crook of my neck. I always rested my head on hers to balance each other while we slept. It was comfortable despite sitting upright, but it hadn't been enough to let me sleep peacefully this time.

I feigned sleep, hearing Nox moving around in the burrow we called home for the time being, taking longer than usual to try to wake me up. She hummed softly to herself, a light, happy tune that I'd never heard before. Nox hadn't shown real happiness until she started 'making' food for us, though I wasn't sure if that happiness had to do with me or the process of 'making' food. She claimed that all she needed was prey to do what she did best. It didn't make sense how she could alter flavors so thoroughly, but I didn't want to risk finding out and ruining it for myself, just in case her methods were disgusting.