Bedside Monster (House Beasts #1)

Promises to Keep

Oliver paused as he watched one of the muffins he had just made slowly levitating towards the edge of the table.

"Wovyn! No stealing!" he cried.

The muffin dropped on the spot. If he squinted, Oliver could distinguish something akin to a shadow leaning over the kitchen table, perfectly still, as if he wouldn't notice. Oliver placed his hands on his hips and frowned at him.

"Back to bed, Wovyn," he said. "You'll get your part after you drank all your soup."

There was a pause from the shadow. Maybe he was talking, Oliver didn't know if he was as he couldn't hear him. Eventually, Wovyn produced a small paper that he placed on the table and moved back to the living room. Oliver moved to the paper when he was gone, to read the message.

'I want to watch tv with you please'

Wovyn's handwriting was particular. It was very round and curvy. Oliver loved it from the second he had first seen it and he was already hoarding the messages he was getting like they were going to go out of fashion. Which they probably were when Wovyn would recover his ability to talk to him normally.

"I'll come right away when I am done with the frosting," he said in the direction of the living room. Hopefully, Wovyn heard him. "Tell me what you want to see when we get there."

He got to work right after that, but his mind was still busy with what he had told his mother earlier. She had not called or messaged him and lunchtime was approaching. He wondered if she was mad at him or resented him. He decided that it wasn't that important as long as he was with Wovyn.

Did that mean that he could see himself spend more time with the imp? Maybe. And he could also see himself adopting a cat with him. He wondered if Wovyn liked cats in general. If he didn't mind Loak when he was visiting Lola, he probably wasn't allergic. Although Oliver wasn't quite sure if Loak was a real cat. If he was, he would have been able to see him when he visited, right? And what sort of cat could talk?

He decided that he was better off asking Lola. He texted her his question. She answered rather quickly, as if she had been on her phone in the first place.

'He's a sphinx.'

Weren't sphinxes massive lion-like creatures that ate humans? That didn't really answer his question. Oliver would have to see Loak for himself when the effects of the medicine would wear off.

'How's Wovyn by the way?' she asked.

'He's doing fine,' wrote Oliver. 'He's been trying to steal muffins just now'

'Your giving him muffins? He's resting, might upset his stomach'

'He said he's fine'

'Admit your just hooked on spoiling him'

Maybe. 'No'

'Whatever. Do what you want'

'We're going to watch a movie'

'What movie?'

'idk'

He put the phone down at this point and went to check on his sick boy. The latter seemed to be snuggled in some blankets on the mattress. He perked up when Oliver entered the room.

"No muffins yet," said the human. "Finish your soup first."

Wovyn, in typical Wovyn fashion, rolled around on the bed. Oliver could almost hear his whiny voice. Thank gods he couldn't see him, otherwise, he was sure his heart would already be melting for those golden eyes.

Noticing that there was a piece of paper with writing on the low table, he approached it to read it. The name of the movie that Wovyn had picked up was 'the last I heard of Amber'. A romance? Oliver had been expecting the next episode of the series they were currently watching but he didn't mind that if that was what Wovyn wanted.