The Wings of All Things

Chapter 5

"I'll take that as a no." Nick huffed when there was no reply from Manny. With a stretch of his arms, he placed his palms under his head. "So you're not much of a talker huh? Do you really not have a mouth? I mean, we can still talk though. I mean, I can. You can listen." Nick said before looking up at Manny again. Manny had gone back to reading. "Or ignore me. That's cool too. What're you reading?" Nick asked. Manny handed the book over to him. Nick stretched out one of his arms to grab it. His blank eyes scanning over the front and back of the cover before he noticed something wrong as he searched for a title. It was missing one. He flipped through the pages in hopes of getting a glimpse of what it was about, but none of the words made any sense.

"Nice." He said as he handed it back. Manny took it and set it aside. "So uh... What do you do for fun besides reading?" Nick asked. Manny stood still, not moving to answer him at all. "Ugh, this is so boring. You're boring!" Nicky whined. "Can I please-" Manny got off the wall he was leaning on and walked out the door. "Wait! I was kidding!" Nick called out. "Mannyyy!" He cried. It was quiet for a while until Manny came back with a different type book in his hand. "A notebook?" Nick asked. Manny nodded as he flipped to a clean page. "So like, is that how you talk to MAB?" He asked. "With you writing and her reading?" Manny nodded his head yes. "Cool, cool." Nick nodded. "So..." Manny shoved the notebook into Nick's chest.

"Do you always begin your sentences with SO ?" The ink on the page asked. "I see you have a good sense of humor... No, no, I don't. Not that I can really remember anyway." He chuckled as he handed back the notebook. "Nice handwriting by the way. Are my eyes really... Do my eyes not have pupils like she said?" Nick asked. Manny nodded. "Why did she...? Angelica. She... Does she not like me or something? She wouldn't look at me earlier. Like, she was afraid of me. She's very pretty though... Wait a minute, is that why you stare at her to-" Before Nick could finish his question, Manny gave him the notebook. "Man you write fast." Nick mentioned. 

"I only met you both today, so easy with the questions. I do agree that she is a pulchritudinous sight to see, but I stare at her for a different reason." Manny wrought. "What does pulchritudinous mean?" Nick asked. "Beautiful." Manny answered. "Oooh... So what reason do you stare at her for?" Nick asked. Manny wrote down a quick answer. "To be feared again." He wrote. "I can feel it every time I even so much as share a glance at her." He added. Nick shivered from rereading that sentence. He thought he must have misread it but after reading it a third time he was sure he read it correctly. "Wait... Again?" Nick asked. "I used to make Mabsoot uneasy. Though it only lasted a short but luscious while. But with your friend, I feel like she'll take more than a few days. Months. Maybe even a year if I'm lucky." Manny wrote. Nick raised his eyebrow at him. 

"Why do you want to be feared?" He asked. Rethinking his trust in this stranger alone with him. "Do you want to... Hurt her?" Nick asked nervously. "Of course I won't hurt her. I don't harm those who don't hurt others physically. And being feared? It's a curse I can't help but love. It's the thing that makes me up. You wouldn't understand. Mabsoot's wouldn't either." Manny answered. Nick slowly nodded. "I just think that somebody as weird and creepy and disturbing as you can befriend a such a tiny, bubbly, cute girl like her. N-no offence! No offence at all of course!" Nick quickly said to protect his hind.

"I do admit, we make an odd duo." Manny said as he mentally chuckled at Nick's quick reassurance. "How did you guys even become a duo anyway?" Nick asked. "She found me when I was long forgotten. At first, I admit, I wasn't exactly... In a good sense of mind. I actually tried to kill her for a split second." Manny admitted. "Oh... That's sweet! Kind of disturbing, but sweet." Nick chimed. "So can I get up now?" Nick asked. "There you go with the sos again. You'll be fine by morning hopefully. But for now, you need to stay down. I don't know how to treat you properly. Nor your wing. It went inside your back but I feel it will heal on its own. It is only a feeling though. Not a hundred percent positive." Manny wrote.