She blushed and backed away. I could hear how incredibly fast her heartbeat was. "I- I'm sorry. I guess you were right. I should go to sleep. "
She walked back to where she would sleep and laid down facing the other way. So, I was left to wonder what just happened.
Yes, I could enter her mind and figure thing out for myself. but at this point I figured that that must be an insult and violation of privacy. She could keep her thoughts for herself. If she really wanted to share them with me again. she would tell me.
It did not take long for Noah and Beatrice to come back with the other humans after everyone finally woke up. Now we were only waiting for the dwarf to come back with news about Elisa and Nathan.
While we were waiting it was eery quiet. Most of the humans that I had not known prior to my imprisonment still tried to keep as much distance from me as possible. I could tell that none of them wanted to be here with me. but they felt like they had no choice. They were scared to go back to Atlantis. And they feared that they would otherwise have to look over their shoulder for the rest of their lives in case I would come back to claim them.
Apart from the distance of these humans, Leonor was also a lot more quiet than usual. Afraid that she might feel guilty about last night, I walked up to her.
"Is everything alright?"
She quickly glanced at me and then turned away. "Yea. It is just…"
"Last night was confusing?"
"Please get out of my head. It is as weird as it is without that."
"I was not in your mind in the first place. tough it is verry easy for me to do that. And sometimes it happens by accident. I can choose not to read another's mind if I don't want to."
She nervously chuckled. "Sorry for that. I just… my mind is all over the place right now. and I guess I wanted to shift the blame on someone else."
She let her fingers run along one of the scars on her neck. this one was a lot messier than the others and probably not done with a knife.
"You know, I never thought that I would feel this way again after my girlfriend died. And you are not even human."
I bit my lip and sat down next to her. "If it makes you feel better, it was not all on you. I have no idea how it works or how to influence it in any way. But I seem to have a weird effect on people around me. they, tend to see me more as a friend or a companion the more time I spend around them. even if they see me do terrible things and know that I killed people they directly knew. They just ignore that. Do you see him?"
I pointed at my father who was currently trying to clean the wound of a young girl who had stepped on a sharp rock.
"That man had spent a lot of time around me back when I was younger. He as basically been there all my life. he taught me almost everything I knew and always wanted me to become a good and happy person later. But then he learned that I had performed multiple massacres and tortured someone until it was just a mind trapped in a meat prison. He was furious and disappointed. But for some reason, he just forgave me. even though I had done nothing to redeem myself and I don't think that I deserve it. maybe it is just part of my presence. Like the force that let those crystals light up when I come close. And that demons that have this effect on people can make deals with them more easily and thus survive and reproduce. You know, natural selection."
She sighed and then softly smiled. "That does make sense. But that does not change anything about the situation, don't you think? I have suffered so much after my former lover died. And I don't know if I am ready to go through that again."
"Then wait until you do know. No one is forcing you to do anything… at least not on purpose."
I wanted to stand up and join the others again. but she noticed my actions and grabbed my hand.
"Could you… please stay a little longer?"
I nodded and smiled. Even tough my smile must have looked terrifying with my sharp fangs, she also seemed happy, despite the pain she felt due to the loss of a loved one. She rested her head against my arm, and I embraced her with my lower wing. I could tell that her heartbeat and breathing were slowly returning to normal again.
"Wait. Did I miss something?"
I looked up and saw that Allenya was leaning against a wall pretty close to us.
"Are you two a thing now?"
I did not really know what to answer. I was certainly willing to at least try to have a relationship. But what if the feelings she had were just an effect of my presence? And what if she would snap out of it one day?
Leonor gave me a questioning look and I hesitated at first. But then I nodded.
"I guess so. But if you don't mind. I still want to figure things out." Leonor responded.
At this point Allenya was getting all exited and nearly jumping in place.
"Okay, then I won't tell the others until you are ready. But really this is so amazing. Hey, Leonor, was it? Did you know that when he sleeps, he often curls up and wraps his tail around him like a cat? Isn't that super cute for a four-meter-tall hell beats?"
I slightly tilted my head. "I am right here you know."
"Also, Leonor let me give you a tip. Watch his tail! He probably won't admit it, but you can often tell how he feels from the way he moves it. The tip of his tail will regularly slightly tremble when he is nervus or exited. And when he is happy or about to attack something, it will swing from side to side like that of a dog."
I sighed and rested my face in my hand. At this point there was probably not much I could do to stop her.
Then Allenya walked up to me. since she could not reach my shoulder, she just stomped one of my wings. "Hey Gustave, Rubedo, or whatever you want to be called right now. good job and best of luck!"
After that she walked backwards to the others while still happily waving.