Pigs. Pigs. Pigs!
Tukare has never seen so many pigs in her life! The cabbage she has protected in her whole life is being coveted by a group of pigs! One pig wanted to steal her place as her precious cabbage's older sister, while the other pig wanted to be the older brother. She will not give it! She will not yield!
Tukare hasn't even figured out how to handle those two pigs, and now a third pig has entered the cabbage patch!!! And this pig wants to aggressively steal and eat her precious cabbage right in front of her?!
"Tonight, there will be! Roasted pork chops!! For dinner!!!" Tukare whisper-shouts threateningly to no one.
Thinking deeply, Tukare scowls at the racket the first and second pigs with their other fiend-tastic friends were making outside the room that the landlady graciously let her darling precious cabbage, borrow.
After one more look at Videre's sleeping visage, she stood up. The door swung open in its own, her sword flew after her. She felt the need to butcher a few pigs and pheasants to quiet down the barrage of noise coming from the landlady's dining hall.
Everyone is currently inside Lady Amani's dining area eating dinner that the Lady offered to make. After Videre had fainted, Girtro interjected; Videre would end up in Lady Amani's house for dinner later, conscious or not. It was better for everyone to just ahead willingly. It wouldn't be good to beat up her guest either.
(A/N: Yes, altho this isn't PBB, you wouldn't want to be the evicted housemate lol, sorry, pls continue)
Knowing the Lady, some were a bit reluctant, but hearing Girtro predict that Videre would wind up in the Lady's home one way or the other, they voluntarily, yet wearily, brought themselves over. This group of protective people are fierce, so fierce that Obrecht felt an impending crisis.
A few minutes after Tukare leaves…
-
Woken by the closing of a door, my eyes flutter open. There are a few howling noises somewhere outside the room, as well a few crashing noises. All of a sudden, it's quiet once again, making me almost think I had an auditory hallucination.
Glancing here and there, I can faintly see marble flooring, with large thick and brown vines covering the walls. It looked like an abandoned building in a rainforest, but you can see at one glance that it was grown with care, resulting in such an elegant design.
Rubbing my head, I feel like I've forgotten something again. I remember the earlier confrontation with Obrecht, but...what came after that? How did I end up fainting? The memory of Obrecht holding something is blurry—
"Ha..."
In the faint darkness, I perk up, hearing soft breathing at the other end of the door, as if the other person had their forehead stuck on it.
Pressing my cheek on the pillow with closed eyes, I listen to the person dither before they twist the knob and enter. A familiar scent and roasted meat tickles my nose.
"You're awake", Obrecht says as he closes the door, easily breaking my act of sleeping despite my steady breathing and closed eyes.
I can't even pretend to be asleep with this person.
"...Where is this?"
"Lady Amani invited everybody to dinner."
"..." So this is the landlady's house... No wonder it's full of vines and plants. I wonder if these plants are listening in right now too....
"I overheard your conversation with Lady Amani this morning", he presses.
"Overheard? Weren't you intentionally eavesdropping?" I faintly whisper but he clearly hears it.
Just like the landlady. Birds of the same feather, I see.
He presses his lips together, but I am not daunted by this concentrated look he's giving me.
"For how long will you remain angry with me?" Obrecht sits on the bed, caressing the side of my face. He looks tired that I feel slightly guilty for it.
Sitting up and pushing away his hand with the back of mine, I reply, "I'm not angry."
"If you aren't angry, then come back to Inferis with me?" He flashes a hopeful face, making me slightly feel bad for what I'm saying next. It's like promising a gift to a kid and then saying it's not going to happen the next.
"I can't." I correct myself, "I won't."
"You're still angry", Obrecht says, deflatedly, exactly like a kid who got his treat stolen. I can't help but think him so cute like this; a bit different from the recently cold countenance he keeps showcasing whenever we meet.
"It's not like that." I clutch the bed sheet on my lap. "I simply choose family. Right now, I'm needed here..." I whisper belatedly, "Back then, didn't you choose the same?"
He pauses for a few seconds before answering, "Then, don't I just need to merge them?"
"...What?" Flabbergasted, I try to decipher the nonsense he starts to spout. "...M—Merge?"
"There won't be two sides if I just merge our families into one. Wouldn't that solve everything? That way, neither of us have to choose."
"That's...", I trail off, unable to think of a reply. "What... You..."
"Silly." Hearing me stutter, Obrecht smiles; the kind that even he doesn't know that he's doing it. I unconsciously ogle him, blushing at this unexpected ambush.
Obrecht leans while I'm absent-minded, hypnotized by those charming hazel eyes. Is this how people selling their souls to the devil feel like? Something soft touches my lips, grazing them and nipping softly. I snap back out of it when he licks my lower lip.
"What are you doing?!" I push him, but I end up sliding backwards on the bed, one arm trying to cover my flaming face.
"It's been such a long time since I heard you yell. You used to scold me like this." He chuckles then smirks.
"Isn't it because you keep teasing me to the point of—what, why are you climbing unto the bed?!"
"But didn't we used to share a bed all the time?" He innocently looks at me.
"...You make it sound so dirty." So annoying.
He laughs. He knows I'm annoyed.
My leg flinches; I wanted to raise a foot, but I'm unable to kick him off the bed with such a look, and maybe he knows this, because he took advantage of my momentary hesitation. He grabs my waist and slides me under him, his hands at either side of my impassive face.
Unfortunately, intimidating him with an impassive face was bound to fail with such a scarlet blush.
"There is nothing I dislike about you. Even your stubbornness, I love it."
I redden at his words.
"..." You're one to talk about being stubborn. Compared to everyone around me, aren't I the most compliant?
"But sometimes it's... I don't know, frustrating? Is what I'm feeling frustration?" He caresses my hair, letting it slip through the gaps of his fingers.
"Frus…If it's so frustrating, why don't you head back to Inferis immediately? Aren't you more needed there? If you need this necklace, then I'll be more than happy to hand it to you. That should be all that you need from me, right?"
He looks unhappily at me. "It's also frustrating how you can't see how hard it is for me when you say things like that." He groans. "No, that's not even close to what I need. Your attention, your smile, your affection, your praise, your heart, your body, your everything. That's what I need." He cradles his face on the nook of my neck. "I'll go crazy without my six basic needs."
Digesting his words, I stare at the ceiling, feeling time pass by; his tickling breath on my neck and his weight effectively pinning me down, but not enough to crush me. His weirds are absurd, but I can't laugh. He doesn't sound like he's joking. I raise my hands slowly at his sides, thoughtlessly hesitating whether to hug him or not, when I feel sharp pain on my neck. Obrecht licks my neck, and I shiver.
Thump—!
I'm not sure where I got the strength, but I kicked him off the bed and he lands hard on his back. I gasp. I was going to ask him if he got hurt, but I realized that I'm more afraid that Obrecht dented the flooring than getting hurt.
"Wha—Wha—What are you d—doing?!" I yell again, flustered after finding him and the floor were fine.
Mostly the floor. Definitely the floor. It's the floor I'm concerned about.
There were glistening tears about to fall from my eyes because of the pain. I wasn't aware at this time that this look, this is what triggered Obrecht's switch in wanting to bullying me on bed—heck, maybe this was even when the switch was created!
"Marking my territory", Obrecht said, licking his lips, his eyes flashing with pleasure at the sight of his bite mark.