A Man for Himself (Norton X Eli) [Identity V] *UNEDITED*

Chapter 18 - Special Place

Eli had a difficult time trying to fall asleep that night after the encounter with the prospector. He couldn't get him off his mind. He couldn't get over his taste. He didn't know what kind of spell Norton had used on him to make him feel like this.

It's not right; yet his body was strangely responding to him. He needed it to stop. He needed help.

The seer continued to toss and turn in bed until he heard the bedroom door swing open. Dragging footsteps headed to his direction. It was followed by the shifting of the mattress which startled him until he realized that it was Naib.

He was drunk. He'd probably enjoyed himself in the feast.

The mercenary snuggled up to Eli's side, curling up like a small animal and placed an arm around his waist.

Eli found it quite adorable.

"I miss my mother," Naib muttered with his eyes closed. "I miss my home. I want to go home."

Eli reached for the mercenary's hair and lightly brushed it free from its band with his fingers.

"I want to go home, too," he replied in a hushed tone.

Silence settled in the dark room. It was a peaceful kind of silence. Eli felt safe and warm this way.

"Will you ever hate me?" he found himself asking.

"I can never," Naib murmured. "Why'd you ask?"

"Nothing." Eli smiled in the dark as he continued to stroke Naib's hair. "Take off your boots and go to sleep."

Naib chuckled and kicked off his boots as instructed. He's probably too docile to investigate. "I will always be on your side, Eli. That's my promise to you. No matter what."

I'm so sorry, Naib.

Naib's presence helped Eli fall asleep.  He didn't have any vision or nightmare. It's an undisturbed sleep, which he was very much thankful for. When he woke up on the next day, the mercenary was no longer there and the room temperature had gone down drastically.

Eli sat up with a yawn, stretching his arms out and then rubbing his hands together to warm them up. The slightly opened door to the balcony let in cold wind and snowflakes from the outside, resulting to the freezing temperature inside the room.

It's snowing.

Eli would like to stay longer in bed while buried under the comfort of the sheets; however, he'd been absent for too long. He needed to go out there and get his adrenaline pumping.

With yet another yawn, the seer sluggishly stood up and marched his way to the bathroom. He drew himself a warm bath and jumped into the water as soon as his clothes were off. It was a nice escape from the cold.

After spending a good amount of time in the tub, Eli finally got himself ready and made his way to the administrator's office. Brooke Rose roamed around for him, allowing him to see far ahead despite having a blindfold on; so he wasn't exactly surprised when he ran into Fiona in the hallway. The priestess looked worried.

"Eli, my talisman is missing," she said, sounding distressed.

"What do you mean?" Eli asked and raised an arm to let the owl land on it.

Fiona took in a deep breath and slowly sighed as if to calm herself down. "Someone dug it up," she began. "Aside from the talisman, the crystals are also missing—the ones Patty got for me." She bit her lip. "This is not good. I know Hastur no longer gives us special treatment, but it doesn't mean that we're cutting off our connections with him. I don't want to offend him. I still respect him as my god."