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But just like when Kiar slinked off in defeat days before, I felt obligated to reassure Clem.
How absurd!
“…I like it when you go pink,” Clem declared and I looked away, even more embarrassed now that I caught the tail end of a long list of gushing praise, no doubt.
“Bracken—” our batbeast interrupted him by shaking a branch and making it rain yellow bellflowers and leaves on our heads.
“It’s master to you,” he retorted.
I snorted, wondering how long they were going to keep up the master and servant act, since it appeared to me Clem was the one who had him on a tight leash.
“Hmph. Master! What do you like best about Sun?” Clem asked, two fists on his hips, and I frowned.
He was trying a little too hard to shower me with affection, and by the slight tremor in his hands and wobble in his chin, I knew he wasn’t over anything. Not his nightmares, or the attacks by the panthera and his king.
And, more troubling, I realized as I caught my mothian’s gaze, he was not over his fear of losing me. As if I were going anywhere, bound to them.
“Hmm… I’ve grown fond of that lewd body of his. I would like to try and taste it sooner rather than later since we’ll be traveling into the enemy’s nest come morning.”
“I am not a toy you can use and toss at your flimsy whim,” I said, blown away by the fact that was still the only thing on his mind even now.
“What is mine is mine, and what is yours is mine. It is only natural,” Bracken claimed, like he was making any sense. “So, I’m hopeful one day you’ll see the benefits of submission and servitude.”
“Don’t make me punch you,” I warned as he cackled, Clem dislodging himself from me to flutter up to Bracken, uneven on his slightly torn wing.
They snuck off to chat, not too far to put any of us in danger, but far enough to give the illusion of privacy. I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on them still, creeping closer, pretending to harvest more fruit.
“...What is a young noc? One that resembles a human child,” Clem asked his master.
Bracken’s face contorted, confused by the question it seemed before he landed on the answer, “I guess just a noc.”
Strange…
Clem puckered his lips, pouting. “Then what is a teen among humans?”
“A human not ripe enough to pluck,” Bracken answered easily this time, dropping fruit into Clem’s awaiting palms. I huffed. “Seedlings are children and those screeching balls of terror called infants. Teens are new sprouts. Adults are ripe humans, like Sun.”
It’s time I step in before he fills his head with more strange nonsense, I thought, confused by the whole exchange.
“Teens are taller humans, older than children, but younger than adults,” I said, coming up to them, not understanding the way Clem’s gaze darkened, black eyes shutting in pain as he clutched his chest. “Have you never seen one?”
“No, I have. I didn’t make the connection. I didn’t know their name,” he said. “I thought they were just small humans.”
Scratching my chin, I tried to change the topic since I felt like I’d ruined the mood enough lately.
“What do nocs call their lifespans?” I asked. Clem brightened up instantly. He seemed very keen on sharing things about nocs and learning about humans as of late.
“Certainly. There are four stages of noc development. Master taught me!” he said, nudging Bracken’s hip who nodded knowingly, stroking his chin like a sage.
“Ah yes, I can explain. But here, this will improve your mood. You smell sour,” Bracken said, forcing the thin, dewy, yellow juice of a bellfruit into my mouth, almost slicing my tongue with his claw.
I sniffed my arm, licking the juices from my lips. Did I really smell that bad? I didn’t think so by that way Clem clung to me, face buried in the crook of my neck.
Thankfully I didn’t smell like shit even though I felt like it, which was a miracle in itself.
I whined as he rubbed against the bruises left behind by Alhadya. This made Bracken grumble something I couldn’t hear before he went on.
“So, for us nocs, we come in four distinct forms. After awakening, some remain submissive and breedable,” my batshit crazy batbeast declared, shoving another flower into my mouth.
