Reia curled up on the armchair covered in furs in front of the fireplace as it crackled with life.
Once all the protections were in place, the Mavka left to return to his own home, then she and Orpheus went through everything they’d obtained. Most of it that wasn’t cooking related went into her room. She was eager to start making her own clothing.
She had eaten a simple meal, had her first warm, relaxing bath in over a week – too exhausted to want anything naughty – and was now resting in her chair.
Night had not long fallen, and she had started going through the three books she’d gotten. Orpheus had left to go to the stream, getting her water since what had been left behind was now stale.
She’d given the Mavka the book on how to build different styles of houses that also had some explanations for building furniture as well. He’d given her his embarrassed glowing eyes while explaining to her he couldn’t read. She just pointed to the diagram pictures and told him that he just needed to follow them to the best of his abilities. Orpheus then told him when he started building, he would also show him what he knew.
She went through the book about the different creatures, nothing really grabbing her attention. She also came to the realisation that she knew more about Duskwalkers and Demons than what was detailed inside of it by living in the Veil for nearly a month and half and having someone who could answer all her questions.
Ghosts were a known thing, frightening creatures that haunted places that had been decimated by Demons. They were lost souls that had died in such a horrifying way, filled with so much longing to live that they never left. She’d heard of them but had never seen one. Not even in the Veil.
She wasn’t particularly interested in the mythical creatures. Who cares about elves when they aren’t real? Why did she need to know all these made-up facts as if the author had been trying to fabricate their myth to be truth?
Reia flicked through the fighting book with excitement as she wanted to start practising some of the swings and techniques, but it was only something she could do when she was training.
Eventually, she moved onto the final book, flipping through the different children’s tales. There were twelve of them in the thick and weighty book, and it was tiring to hold up. She laid it on her lap as she skimmed over the pages, only pausing when Orpheus entered the house.
“You’re still awake?” he asked, placing the bucket on the furthest corner of the kitchen counter so it was out of the way.
“I’m tired, but not that tired,” she laughed, gesturing to window next to her that ran over the porch. “The sun only went down not too long ago.”
He came to stand in front of her near the fire. He stood there quiet for a moment, staring down for longer than was normal, before hesitantly asking, “May I sit with you?”
“Of course,” she said with a note of confusion, unsure why he was even asking at all.
Orpheus promptly sat on the ground next to her and plonked his head on her lap when she’d been expecting him to sit on his own chair! He’d pushed her book to the side with his snout, making it fall between the armrest and her thigh to make room for himself.
He gave a loud snorting huff of contentment.
“I haven’t been alone with you in quite some time, even before we left.”
Her hands had flung into the air near her chest in surprise, but they fell now to sit around his head.
“Well, you did go out hunting for me before we did.”
“And then you did not speak to me, even though I brought you meat and got stung by bees for you.”
Reia pursed her lips and squinted her eyes at him. She wanted to tell him that he’d deserved it, but she’d ignored him because he’d implied that he wouldn’t believe her promise to stay inside if he left – except she hadn’t waited for him to tell her why.
We were gone for a long time. She couldn’t imagine what she would have tried to do by herself had she been left alone for eight days. I would have been bored brainless.
Instead, she’d gone on an amazing adventure, and knew she was only the second human who had ever done it.
“Why are you wet?” she asked when she felt a slight amount of dampness soaking into her dress.
“Washed in the stream while I was there.” He pushed the tip of his snout against the book in the gap between her and the chair. “Is that one of the books the Witch Owl guided you to take?”
Reia nodded before pulling it up to hold it. “I don’t know why, though. It’s just full of children’s stories.”
“Are they truthful tales?”
“No, just made-up ones.”
“Would you be interested in reading one?” He lifted his hand to place a claw around the book’s spine edge to lean it towards him. “I can read, but I am slow, so I don’t read for enjoyment like you humans do.”
“Are you really asking me to read to you?”
The audacity! Reia didn’t even read for herself.
“Why not? It would please me if you did.” He lifted his head so he could reach up and cup the side of her face while facing her. “Your voice is lovely. I would like to hear it.”
A compliment like that made it hard to deny him.
She started going through them, trying to decide which one she should start with. The feather that the Witch Owl had placed inside it was still present, like a bookmark, and Reia paused when she got to the marked tale.
I might as well, I guess. She started with Beauty and the Beast, feeling remarkably silly for reading it to him.
Reia was only a quarter way through it when she lifted the book away to check on Orpheus to find his glowing orbs had turned black. Waving her hand in front of his face, she understood he’d fallen asleep.
She continued to read it out loud, allowing him to stay how he was.
It was a relatively short folklore tale, and she was done within a few hours, placing the book down to think.
Belle and the Beast, huh? She placed her hand over the top of Orpheus’ long snout, between his eyes and nose, and gently stroked the hard bone. She dwelled on this, wondering if perhaps that was why the Witch Owl had told her to take this book, had left a feather at this particular story.
Could I stay with Orpheus? She still didn’t know the answer to that question, but she was feeling less and less inclined to leave. The will for it dying with her growing fondness of his home and of him.
She continued to stroke his face, peering down at him as he gave a deep huff, like he could tell she was petting him. I still don’t know, but what would have happened in the story if Belle had fucked the Beast before he became a human?
There would be no magical transformation for Orpheus, and she knew that. She tried to imagine what he would look like as a human, but she couldn’t see him any other way than what he was.