Sometimes life changes for no reason. The interesting thing is whether these changes are good or bad.
Does waking up in an unknown world with many people who develop a crush on you count as a nice thing?
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“-They probably fell asleep while looking out for you.”, a high-pitched voice says.
It is followed by the sensation of someone petting your head. Slowly, you open up your eyes. You are still sitting on the same stool as before, but this time Aether is standing in front of you. The moment he realizes that you have awaken, he quickly pulls back his hand. “Ah sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up...”
“It’s fine, don’t worry…”, you mumble while stretching your stiff body, “What’s more important: How do you feel? You seriously worried me when you randomly collapsed back at the cave.”
“I honestly don’t know what happened there either. All of the sudden I just felt so woozy and then I had an odd dream…”
“Hm? What do you mean by that?”
“There was this big tree and some voice said ‘world forget me’ ...or something like that. I don’t know, something felt strange about that dream.”
“Hmm yes, I get what you mean… I too dreamt about something strange, but the content was completely different. Wish I could remember what I talked about with her though… Ah, I should be getting Tighnari here so that he can check up on you.”
Before you can stand up to head out, the person in question speaks up. “No need for that. I am already here.” He walks in through the open door. “And based on what I heard I would recommend you to stay for a few days so that we can be sure that your condition is stable.”
Aether shakes his head. “Thank you for your concern, but I don’t think that is necessary. I feel fine now. Really.”
“Alright. I will agree on that once you take a sniff of this.” Tighnari walks over to you and Aether and shows you a small ball made of plant matter. The smell it emits heavily reminds you of the incent from the scholar. Looking over to your blond friend, he seems like he is having a headache again. “As we can see, you are still very sensitive to the scent. Please don’t endanger yourself and just stay a bit longer.”
“…Fine.” If one had to score the enthusiasm in Aether’s voice from 1 to 10, they would give him a one at best.
A subtle smile of satisfaction creeps on Tighnari’s lips. “Perfect. Now that we have sorted that one out, how about I take you with me to go on a patrol, (Y/N). As travelers, you must be curious about the rain forest, no?”
“Sure, glad-“ You stop mid-sentence as you feel a hand firmly grabbing your own from behind.
Looking back, you see Aether shaking his head with a serious expression. Once his eyes wander off to the fox boy, the seriousness gets replaced by a polite smile. It lacks the sincere warmth you are used from him. “I would prefer (Y/N) to stay with me so that they can accompany me while I recover.”
At first Tighnari seems surprised by the response, but then he smiles back. “I see, I see~ Of course can they stay with you. If you end up needing something, just call for it. Even if I am not around, somebody will certainly come to help. I will get going then, alright?” Hearing no objections, he leaves with his tail flicking from side to side.
