Love as food

Hunter closed the door of his bedroom and hurriedly strode towards his bed. He took his mask off, put it on his bedside table, pulled his pillow over his head, and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to drown out the dull, throbbing pain.

He had been having a headache for hours while having intermittent episodes of dizziness and nausea. While he had worked under worse conditions, they did not make his job any easier. He could only feel relief when his shift ended.

He heard the barely perceptible sound of wings flapping and felt the weight of a tiny body landing on his bed.

"Fledgling! Fledgling! Are you okay?!" Flapjack questioned him with worry, then moved closer to his face.

"Quieter, please." Hunter groaned and gripped his pillow tighter. He didn't want to deal with Flapjack's fretting right now.

"Are you hurt?" Flapjack asked quietly, with worry underlining his tone.

"It's just a headache."

Flapjack did the bird equivalent of a skeptical hum.

"I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm not hurt. It's just a headache and a small amount of dizziness." Hunter rebutted, annoyed.

"You're hungry," Flapjack stated firmly.

"N- yes, but only a little," Hunter replied. It was the truth from a certain point of view; he barely felt hungry at that moment. His head throbbed more intensely; he clutched the pillow and suppressed a whimper.

Flapjack tried to soothe Hunter with a tender, wordless song. It did lessen the pain a bit. Hunter relaxed slightly and thanked Flapjack for his help. The bedroom became quiet for a moment, and then Flapjack exclaimed proudly. " I've got you food."

Hunter took the pillow off his face and looked at Flapjack, stunned. He muttered a small "What?" under his breath.

"Look!" The bird made a small hop and flew towards the bedside table.

Hunter sat up on the bed and gazed at it. Apart from Hunter's usual stuff and the golden mask, a small pile of seeds and berries was on top. They looked delicious. Too delicious.

"Flapjack, this is-" Hunter sounded grateful. Then he shook his head and looked away. "I'm not allowed to eat this."

"You need to eat. You have not eaten in three days."

"Two days," Hunter corrected quickly. Two days and a half weren't equivalent to three days. "And I can't; Uncle has forbidden me."

"You need to eat! You're a growing boy!" Flapjack insisted. He takes one random berry and gives it to Hunter. Hunter glanced at it with desire and threw it away. He felt bad about wasting food, but he didn't want extra temptation.

"Fledgling?" Flapjack inquired with concern.

"I'm not allowed to eat right now!" It sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as Flapjack.

"You need to! It's hurting you!"

"I can't. Uncle said so!"

"You don't need to listen to that jerk!" Flapjack exclaimed angrily and fluffed up his feathers. He had less-than-stellar opinions of the emperor. He refrained from voicing them most of the time because they upset Hunter. But when Belos hurt Hunter, he was unable to do that.

"You don't have any right to talk about my uncle like that!" He frowned and flailed his arms. His headache was getting worse, but he powered through it. "I failed so badly! He is being really merciful for only punishing me like this! He has even let me have water this time!"

"Hunter?!" Flapjack sounded worried and disturbed by his response.

"Just don't talk to me right now." Hunter requested it tersely. He looked at Flapjack again, his shoulders slumping, but he was still frowning.

He changed his work clothes for his nightgown mechanically. He turned the lights off. He lay on the bed and tried to sleep, but was unable to.

He looked at his nightstand, the small pile of food, and the slumped palisman. He averted his gaze for a few seconds and said it with a soft voice.

"Sorry," Flapjack said, looking at him and leaning forward. "Thank you for the food, but I can't eat anything." He declared with defeat.