Chapter 91

Chapter 91<~> Chapter 91

Fae and Silva hadn't come out of the carriage they had been hiding in until our group got there. I wouldn't say they looked particularly shaken, they were just being reasonably cautious as far as I could tell. Fae held the front of her hood down as we escorted her to the room all of us would be sharing for the night. I didn't imagine the young noble was happy about being assigned to sleep in the same room as her rabbitkin bodyguard again but she didn't act like it bothered her. She was a noble, perhaps she had some form of skill that made her emotions harder to read.

I gently closed the door behind us. This room was a bit larger than the one we slept in the previous day but not by much. All six of us sharing this room would be a bit cramped. Everyone looked exhausted. Travelling all day is pretty tiring on its own but traveling in the rain and that last stretch after fighting that large monster created a lot of tension and anxiety. Not to mention the the people wearing black armor that clearly seemed to be searching for Fae here.

There was tension in this room as well, Fae's unease extended to the twins since they hadn't spoken much in front of her yet. To her they were just servants and the more she looked at them that way the more the twins started to act like that. It was probably unintentional, they were just falling back on their old training. The thought made me internally grimace.

The oppressive atmosphere then disappeared, nearly as quickly as it had first appeared when Torien's stomach loudly rumbled. She blushed and turned away and Morrigan burst into laughter, taking all of the tension along with her.

I smiled wryly and grabbed the handle of the door. "It sounds like we're pretty hungry in here. Why don't I go see how long it'll be until dinner is ready?"

The twins jumped up simultaneously and spoke in unison. "No! We'll go handle it Lilith!"

I raised an eyebrow at the twins, confused why this suddenly seemed to matter to them more than usual. Oh... Maybe they feel the need to be more formal and follow etiquette now that we are front of a noble. I had mixed feelings about that but maybe it was for the best right now.

I put my hand on Torien's shoulder and quietly spoke to her. "Thanks for breaking the ice there, things were getting awkward."

She blushed and looked away. "It's not like I want to make a fool of myself..."

I ruffled her hair, normally I wouldn't do something like that to the serious cat girl but she was so shaken from her embarrassment I knew I would get away with it this time. Frankly, she was being so cute I couldn't help it.

Letting her off the hook I decided to change the subject. "Will the two of you be enough to bring back six portions?"

"Uhh..." Morrigan glanced at Bella, probably considering asking for help.

I decided to make it easier for her. "Bella, do you mind going with the twins? Six bowls is probably a bit much to carry."

"Sure." Bella got up and led the twins out of the room.

"You are very gentle with your servants." Fae sat down on the edge of one of the cots huddled in the room, Silva took the cot farthest from her on the other edge of the room.

I smiled. "To me they are friends first."

-- "How are you doing Mimi?" --

-- "I'm doing good! There's been lots of interesting things to see on this trip!" --

I smiled. -- "I'm sorry you haven't been able to talk out loud to the others much lately." --

-- "It's alright. I can tell there aren't many others like me around and a lot of the other mimics that people saw were attacking others when we were at the dungeon. I don't want to be confused with a mean mimic. I don't mind conserving energy and watching everyone." --

I climbed up the stairs to the fort's battlements. It was still early morning, twilight before the sun actually rose over the horizon. I nodded to the morning watch and sat down on the edge of the battlements after pulling out my sketchbook. It had been a long time since I had gotten a chance to draw a little.

-- "I'm glad you're so understanding, not everyone would be comfortable just watching from the outside all of the time," -- I said to Mimi.

I felt acknowledgement pulse through our connection before she continued. -- "Everything is so new to me anyway. Every day I'm getting to see new things. While I might be happier if I could openly talk or sleep in the same bed as my friends, even being close to everyone is enough for me. I am so much happier than I was in the lower floors of the dungeon. Where the only... living things around me were other mimics who were mindless creatures that only wanted to attack me. I had no one to talk to and I felt so alone. Even if we can't talk all the time, I treasure the attention you give me in quiet moments like this. Avoiding talking in front of others is a small price to pay for everything you've done for me in the short time we've known each other." --

Tears formed in my eyes and I felt my chest tighten as her heartfelt gratitude flowed through our connection. The feeling was so powerful that I almost considered closing the connection. Instead I just sniffed and went back to my drawing, letting our shared feelings settle in my heart.

I turned the page away from the landscape I had been sketching and instead started blocking in a sketch of Mimi from my memories of her humanoid form. I had to admit, drawing purely from memory wasn't my strongest suit but our little talk in the quiet moments of the morning inspired me to capture her image on my page. I spent around 30 minutes before I felt happy with the result. Charcoal isn't the best medium for detailed work but I think I did a good job capturing her likeness.

[Drawing has increased from level 11 to level 12]

I nudged Mimi to borrow my sight and see the drawing I had done of her. Once she had I felt a small storm of emotions flow over to me. Surprise, gratitude, happiness, interest, pride... love.

-- "Is that what I look like?..." -- she asked.

-- "At least, the best I can do at capturing it." --

The emotions I felt from her swelled once again, causing me to smile as I felt tears gather in my eyes once again.

-- "Lilith... Thank you." --

-- "You're welcome Mimi. Lets keep doing our best, together." --

-- "T-together." --