She felt the airflow change behind her and then a voice boomed out beside her head, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Shhhhhh, not so loud,” she groaned softly into the table.
“What, am I disturbing your precious rest?” His voice was still cheerfully loud, as if he was enjoying torturing her. She figured that it was retribution for waking him up in the middle of the night.
She raised her head up just enough to glare at him, confirming that her assailant was the incorrigible Raphael. She bit out softly, “Yes. Now go away or bring me food.”
“I saw you come in. I’ve got some for you here.” Kaylee walked over with a steaming plate of pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs, which she set down in front of her with a fork.
“You’re an angel,” Jade whispered, eagerly grabbing the plate and digging in immediately. The taste of delicious pancake goodness filled her mouth and she hummed softly in pleasure, the smell of syrupy goodness almost intoxicating.
Kaylee laughed. “You’d think you were hungover, the way you’re attacking that food.”
Raphael chose that moment to chime in, “She probably is hungover. She drank half a cask of wine last night.”
Jade turned to gawk at him, missing her face with the pancake on her fork as it fell to her lap. She blankly asked, “Devil man say what?”
“You don’t remember? You ate almost half a pig,” he asked incredulously
Her eyes widened as scenes played hazily in her mind, and she groaned, clutching her brain as she tried to think. She muttered defensively, “I thought it was juice!” Raphael and Kaylee both burst into snickers, which made her groan again. She didn’t like this. Hangover needed to go away, pronto!
And that was when she felt it. The warmth was slipping through her fingertips, flooding her brain with a happy light. She could almost feel the hormone levels and neurotransmitters returning to homeostasis. She just enjoyed the feeling for a moment as the pounding slowly went away, and her eyes dilated back to normal. Breathing a sigh of relief, she realized she was staring at her lap, which was now sporting pancake. She picked it up absently, then popped it in her mouth, because food.
Kaylee had been called back to the kitchen, but Raphael was now sitting across from her with a plate of his own. He seemed to be studying her intently, and finally, he reached forward and pinched her cheek. She growled and slapped his hand away. “No touching!”
“You look...more human.” He was still considering her, unperturbed that she’d slapped his hand away.
“You still sound like a jerk,” she grumbled and started shoving pancake in again. She quickly finished the plate and scanned the surroundings, hoping to find the source of the deliciousness so she could get more. Not seeing any, she zeroed in on Raphael’s mostly untouched plate. He noticed too late, and she had already nabbed it and pulled it over to her, sticking the first bite of his pancake into her mouth as quickly as possible as she tried to speak at the same time, “Esh mon noa.” It came out completely garbled, but he seemed to get the hint.
With a sigh, he called out to Kaylee, “Can I get another plate? And get her something to drink so she doesn’t choke herself.”
“Fanksh!” she called out in muffled gratitude.
“Don’t talk. Just eat. Also, next time you should try to put clothes on before you come down here.” He was glowering at her disapprovingly again.
She glanced down, realizing that all she was wearing was underwear and an oversized tunic that came down to her skinny mid-thigh. She swallowed and enunciated, “What? It’s not like I’m naked.” Sure, she might not be the prettiest thing to look at, but what did he care?
“Do you not have any shame? You’re a woman exposing yourself in public.”
She stared at him, baffled. She was covered, okay!? So she was showing a little leg, what was the big deal? At least she didn’t have someone sponging her to get her clean! She shuddered inwardly. No more sponge baths, ever! Besides, she felt like hundreds of people had seen her skinny naked body at the hospital, and this shirt covered way more than a hospital gown did. She wasn’t flashing her butt at anyone, so what was the problem?
“Forget it. Just get dressed before you come down in the future.” He sounded utterly exasperated, but she was just confused. She’d do it, but she still didn’t get what the big deal was, so she just nodded, hoping to mollify him while she shoved food down her throat.
“Where is she putting it all? She’s nothing but skin and bones.” In a random lull in the room, one of the guy’s comments at the nearby table caught her attention, and she realized that at least half the people in the room were staring at her in a sort of horrified fascination.
Making eye contact, she grinned creepily and quipped into the now silent room, “Oh, this is nothing compared to when I drink the blood of my enemies.” The guy blanched and someone let out a muffled shriek until Raphael cuffed her lightly on the back of her head, ruining the moment. “What was that for?” she asked indignantly. He just gave her a look that spoke volumes, like ‘really?’ Shrugging, she went back to eating pancakes. She’d establish dominance another time.
She had just finished off her second plate when Kaylee brought out a new plate for Raphael and a full mug of what looked like orange juice for her. She glanced at it suspiciously, asking quietly, “It’s just juice this time, right?” At Raphael’s nod, she glared at him, then turned sweetly to Kaylee. “He’s going to need another plate.”
Raphael waved her off. “No, I should be good with this, ignore her.”
Jade shrugged. “Your loss.” Before he realized what she meant, she had grabbed the plate and stacked it on top of the others, already starting to gobble down the food. Raphael and Kaylee stared at her blankly, as did most of the other people who were now watching their table surreptitiously.
“I’ll just go get you another plate…” Kaylee murmured and walked away.
“Is your stomach a black hole? Seriously?”
She paused long enough to take a swig of orange juice before she responded nonchalantly, “Nope, it’s my soul, not my stomach.” He just stared at her somewhat helplessly, which was rather funny. She had reduced a grown man to speechlessness.
Also, apparently they knew about black holes here. Weird.
Chapter Ten – Magic
Seeing as he, as well as most of the rest of the room, was completely shut up and silent right now, she took the opportunity to study her stats. After all, all that eating and passing out and pain had to have done something, right? It was obvious enough that even Raphael had noticed a difference. She’d have to look in the mirror when she got back upstairs and see if she could tell what all had changed. For now, she mentally clicked on her profile and skills screens, bringing them up in front of her.
Name: Jade Winward
Age: 18
Strength: 8.80
Dexterity: 9.03
Constitution: 8.52
Intelligence: 16.09
Magic: 11.72
Charisma: 9.68
Luck: 14.07
Special Abilities: Siphon
Skills: Acrobatics, Appraisal, Archery, Athletics, Blood Magic, Bluff, Deception, Diplomacy, Dodge, Eating, Haggle, Healing Magic, Information Gathering, Insight, Intimidate, Light Armor, Light Magic, Mathematics, Navigation, Perception, Running, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Small Blades, Stealth, Unarmed Combat, Walking, Water Magic, Wind Magic
Acrobatics
Beginner 2
80%
Appraisal
Beginner 2
35%
Archery
Beginner 2
5%
Athletics
Beginner 4
38%
Blood Magic
Beginner 2
90%
Bluff
Beginner 3
26%
Deception
Beginner 1
80%
Diplomacy
Beginner 4
35%
Dodge
Beginner 1
80%