A Darkening World And A Sleepy Protagonist

Chapter 9 (Unedited)

A tickly feeling awakes Neal. His nose scrunching up in discomfort as he feels something rough and wet along his cheek, then along the corner of his left eye. Not exactly something he could ignore and drift back to sleep with.

He lifts a hand, trying to swat away whatever it was, but did not expect to touch something a lot bigger then what a typical fly size would be. His eyebrows furrow as he feels the soft thing under his fingers, was this hair or fur? Did an animal get in and decide to come over and have a taste before they ate him?

With this thought he opens his eyes, a jolt of surprise going through him as his eyes met anothers. Who is so close that their nose could touch his easily, actually.. they were touching. 

The child pulls away, a large grin on their face at seeing him awake. Neal's own eyes can not help but glue onto their teeth which have him thinking of a kittens. 

He needed to take a moment to take in the child in full. The child, the butt naked child, who sat there beside him on the bed. Where did the child come from? This..

His eyes trail along the body before looking back at the curiosity filled eyes of the child, a little boy.

Wait, what about the egg? Neal sits up quickly, eyes darting around in till they land on the shattered egg pieces on the floor. 

Could..could it be?

He looks back over at the child still staring up at him with large innocent filled eyes.

"No way.." He had not expected this would be what would come out of that egg. How did this even make any sense? 

"This aura...Azarias? No, it couldn't be..." The voice speaks of very important information, but since Neal was on 'ignore mode' for the voice it went unheard from Neal.

The loud sound of growling fills the room, the source being the little childs stomach. The child simply blinks, continuing to stare at him as if waiting for Neal to solve the sound on his own, not giving any real complaints of his hunger. 

"Are you hungry?" Neal gets out of the bed, pausing a moment in thought before telling the child to wait there. 

The boy blinks and Neal turns to leave the room, but as soon as he took a step he hears a small thud and the sound of little feet moving quickly towards him. As the sound stops Neal turns his head to see the little boy standing behind him, with a hand stretched out and holding onto his pant leg. 

The little boy did not want him to leave him alone, wanting to stay by his side. Neal was unsure on bringing the boy with him, but after a moment of staring into those mismatched eyes filled with innocence and faint sadness he could not help but let the boy come along.

Was this the effect of puppy eyes?

Giving a sigh Neal picks up the child, grabbing a blanket to wrap around him and then shifts him into a comfortable position in his arms. Holding him in a way he could have one hand free, before leaving the bedroom.

Beyond the fact of needing to find food in general, he was not even sure what this boy that came from an egg would even want to eat. He really hopes that the child would be able to eat a variety of foods. Otherwise caring for him would be a lot more difficult.

Neal was about to leave the house, but the child stops him. A small hand lightly tugging on his sleeve, looking up at him with big eyes as he points to the ground in what looks like it used to be a little living room. 

"Do you want me to put you down?" As he goes to do so the child made a displeased whine, gripping tighter to his shirt. Lifting the child back up, he wonders what it is he wanted him to see.