Chapter 19: Broken trust

Felix Sythias’ POV (continued):

“Wait up!” someone yelled at me and I turned around to see who the voice belonged to. It was Tiki, running towards me. With a sinking feeling in my chest, I waited for her, and let her catch her breath once she arrived.

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing your test?” I asked, confused why she was here.

“I’m already done, it was a really simple test. I asked if I could use the bathroom so I could follow you,” she said, still panting a little.

I frowned. “Not that I mind your company, but why would you do that?”

“I wanted to talk to you before you reported my brother.”

My frown deepened, that sinking feeling increasing, and I sighed. “You’re going to try to convince me not to report him, aren’t you?”

She sighed too. “I am, yeah. Sorry.”

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t.”

I didn’t think anything she had to say could convince me otherwise, but she was my friend; the least I could was to hear her out. She clearly cared for her brother, even if he was… what he was.

She was quiet for a while, without a doubt thinking of what to say. Eventually she seemed to settle on an answer. “Wouldn’t you have liked a do-over back when you were a teen and you had the reputation of being a monster? To have a second chance without all the extra baggage? Please give him that chance and let him try again.”

I glared at her. I’d told her that so she could understand some of my behavior, why I might be a little clingy at times, and why I didn’t like crowds. If I’d known she’d use my words against me like this, I wouldn’t have told her about it.

I let out a frustrated groan. “Why? Why go through this trouble just for him, of all people?”

She sighed deeply and slouched against the wall, sliding down to sit on the floor. “I really don’t like him, but I promised my mother I’d look after him.”

“I think you’re going too far,” I said, shaking my head, “I trusted you when I told you about my childhood, and you used it against me. Your brother can’t possibly be worth hurting your friends. But you’re right. So, fine, he gets one last chance. I’m only doing this because it’s you who’s asking, and I mean it for real this time: if anything happens again, I’m going directly to my father.”

She sighed sadly, not meeting my eyes. “Thank you.”

I was really starting to hate the fact that I’d already promised myself several times to do something about Alfred if he did something again, but never acted on it. I didn’t usually break my promises, and I didn’t like that I’d done so three times already. I would not do it again.

I appeased myself with the fact that I would need to do something about Alfred either way. I was just delaying the inevitable, not stopping or avoiding it. He was just that kind of person.

“Are you going to report the professor now?” she asked.

“No, I can’t do that without also reporting your asshole brother.”

“Oh, right.”

I sighed and rubbed a talon over my snout, “It hardly matters anyway, now. I already tested out and won’t be seeing him again. And something tells me I’ll get the chance to report him—and your brother—anyway within days,” I said.

She didn’t respond to that and she didn’t need to; we both knew it was true.

“I have to go back now,” she said, standing up. “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, sure,” I said, uncertain whether I actually meant it.

She hesitated for a moment, then turned around and rushed back to the classroom.

-------

I laid outside in the park, basking in the sun’s warm rays, letting them wash away my feelings. I wasn’t having a good time. Between not having a System, professor Kang, Alfred, and his sister Tiki, my first day at the Academy was not living up to my expectations.

I’d always known it wouldn’t. After years of dreaming and hoping, it was hard for it not to. Nothing would live up to the fantasies of a young child. But I hadn’t expected just how bad it would be.

The whole mess with Tiki had been unexpected too. I had thought we were doing well. Sure, we weren’t as close friends as Alex and I were, but I had considered her a friend. Now I wasn’t so sure anymore. Friends didn’t use childhood trauma against each other.

I kind of regretted telling her about it now. My thoughts at the time had been that as a friend, she should know why I didn’t like it when people called me a monster or beast, among other things. She’d been kind and understanding, but now I was wondering if that was just a ruse to get closer to me. People had done it before, and I knew without a doubt they’d do so again if I let them. I just hadn’t expected it to come from her.

While she did come from a political background, with her being a princess and all, she hardly ever acted like she did. Nor did she talk much about her country or family, beyond grumbling about her brother. So the fact that she was royalty slipped my mind most of the time. She’d just been Tiki, not Princess Tiki Conad.

But then she’d brought up my past as a way for me to excuse her brother. And the worst part of it all was that I realized now that I probably would have said yes to whatever she’d told me. I had little faith Tiki could break through to him. But she’d asked to try, and she was a friend, so I wanted to give her the chance. If it had been anyone else, I would’ve told them to fuck off. But it hadn’t been anyone else, it had been my friend.

I sighed and rolled over onto my back, exposing my underside to the sun. The glare of the sun was sharp, so I rested my head and closed my eyes.

At least I had Aerial Combat to look forward to. It was the one class that I’d planned on taking before my hatchingday fiasco as well. I hadn’t meant to take it during my first semester, but I’d been struggling to find something else to fill the last open time slot.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle my sudden flightlessness, but I hoped it didn’t mean I would have to sit at the sidelines for like two months. I didn’t want to waste a third of the total time in the class just looking on as everyone else practiced their tactics and flight skills. It would probably mean I’d need to either catch up during the holidays, or retake the class. At least I knew the professor and knew that she would help me catch up.

I pushed the thoughts from my mind. Worrying about it got me nowhere. I’d learn soon enough; probably in an hour and a half. I’d been lying here, trying to relax for at least twenty minutes, which left half an hour for this period. Then there would be the one hour break. I would need to find somewhere else to lie then, since it would become very busy in the park.

My ears perked up when I heard footsteps. I ignored them. Whoever it was, I didn’t care. Everyone I did care about was still in class. The footsteps got very close and then stopped. I was about to open my eyes to see who it was anyway when something heavy impacted on my belly.

“Oof.” The air was pushed from my lungs and I had to resist a violent reaction. My eyes shot open, and I saw Alex flopped over my belly. He was looking up at me with a smirk on his face.

“Sorry,” he said, “I couldn’t resist.”

“Alex? What are you doing here?” I asked with concern. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Alex rolled off me and got to his feet. He looked at my underside hesitantly and then with a grin, climbed back on and sat down cross-legged on my belly, like I was some squishy and scaly chair. He was rather heavy, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I considered for a moment to ask him to get off, but I honestly didn’t mind and even thought it was a little funny.

He scoffed. “With that asshole of a professor? Nah, you looked pretty upset, so I left as soon as I had my results back to come find you,” he said and I felt a flutter of warmth in my chest that he was willing to risk getting in trouble just to check up on me. “I would’ve left sooner, too, but without finishing that test I would’ve had to see that guy’s face twice a week. Sorry.”

“Hey, no, don’t apologize,” I said with a smile, “You had to finish the test, and it’s really sweet of you to come check up on me.”

“How are you feeling, by the way? What Alfred said to you really wasn’t okay,” he said, his tail sweeping behind him in irritation. “How dare he talk about you like you’re some circus animal? If anyone belongs in a circus, it’s that clown of an elf!”

I gestured for him to calm down, pointing at his tail. The ridges on it kept on passing closely by my groin. Sure, my dick was hidden away safely inside my slit, but if one of the ridges got caught on the edge… it would hurt. Alex mumbled an apology and grabbed hold of his tail and put it in his lap where it kept threatening to tear itself free.

“To answer your question, I feel… well not fine, but better now than when I left,” I said. “The whole mess with Tiki didn’t help, though.”

“Mess with Tiki?” he asked, a little confused before realization struck him. “Oh! So that’s where she went. What happened?”

I told him the whole story—I certainly wasn’t going to keep it a secret for Tiki’s benefit—and a frown grew on his face the more I told him.

“That’s really not okay of her to use that like that. What are you going to do now?”

I laid my head back on the ground, looking up at the clouds. “I’m not sure. I’ll probably just wait and hope we can make up or something; I really don’t want to lose a friend, I only have two.”

“I can understand that. I hope she apologizes. For both of us; I don’t think I can hang out with her anymore if she doesn’t,” he said, “And shouldn’t it be three? From the way you spoke about Hugo, it sounded like you got along really well.”

“We do, but I wouldn’t call him a friend,” I said, shaking my head, “I think a friend should be someone you don’t just get along with, but can hang out with casually as well. Someone with whom you can talk with about your feelings, should you or they want to. Hugo is really nice, and we get along well, but we don’t have that kind of relationship. He’s more a mentor than anything. Someone who gives you advice.”

“Oh. Well, you and I can hang out any time you want,” he said with a huge grin on his face, and then scratched the scales behind his ears. “Well, not any time. I do need to sleep and do homework and will probably want some time to myself every so often, but you get my point.”

“I do, and thanks,” I said, smiling back at him, “But speaking of hanging out, are you really going to keep sitting on me like that? I’m not a chair, you know.”

“I think you’re right about that,” he said with a joking tone, patting my scales while a sly smile grew on his face, “You’re not a chair; you look much more like a bed.”

I raised an eye-ridge. “A bed, huh?”

I suppose I could see it. My belly was rather flat like this. I didn’t have much in terms of fat, nor was I very muscled. It would be a rather uncomfortable bed though.

He faked a yawn. “Yeah, and listening to that asshole earlier has made me feel rather tired, so I think I’ll just lay down and rest for a little while.”

Before I could say anything in response, Alex turned around and laid down on my underside. With his head near the base of my neck and his feet near the base of my tail, he barely fit at all. Sure I was big, but I wasn’t that big. I could feel the ridges on his back and tail dig into me a little, but it wasn’t painful or even uncomfortable, so I let it be. Thankfully, he’d spread his legs so as not to touch my groin with his feet.

I was less okay with this than with him just sitting there; it felt a lot more intimate than him just sitting, and I thought he should’ve asked first. I probably would’ve been fine with it, anyway. Now I wasn’t so sure. But at the same time the intimacy felt nice. It was a bit like we were cuddling, and I felt the urge to wrap my arms around him. I hesitantly reached an arm out, but let it fall back down before it even came close. Alex didn’t seem to notice.

I wasn’t sure where this sudden ‘joke’ had come from. It was a bit awkward, and honestly not that funny. What was he up to? Maybe he’d just wanted some physical contact and was afraid to ask. Or maybe he genuinely thought this ‘joke’ was funny. I could definitely understand the first.

“Oh, I can see why you like this spot. The sun is really nice,” he said.

“I bet it is, you’re blocking most of it,” I said, then paused and added, ”Also, you could’ve asked. I’m not a horse you can just touch wherever and whenever you want.”

He sat up, looking guilty. “I didn’t mean… no, you’re right. I’m sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Do you want me to get off?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. But ask next time, please.”

“You sure you don’t mind?” he asked, though he was already lying back down. Definitely touch starved.

“I’m sure,” I said. “It’s actually surprisingly nice. It’s almost like we’re cuddling.”

“You’d like to cuddle?” he asked, and though I couldn’t read his face from here, he sounded a bit surprised and uncomfortable.

“Yeah, you seem very cuddly.”

“I’m literally covered in hard scales and have ridges running down my back? What part of me is ‘cuddly’?

“Your personality. You’re very sweet. You also have a bit of a belly, and it looks very soft,” I said with a smile. “Besides, those things hardly bother me. Even now I can barely tell those ridges of yours are digging into my chest.”

He shot upright. “They are?!”

I raised my talons, as much to calm him down as to catch him if he fell off. “Calm down, I literally just said I could barely even tell.”

Alex took a deep breath and exhaled.

“You’re right. Sorry I overreacted,” he said, scratching the scales behind his ear. “I get a little self-conscious about them sometimes. The way they bulge up my shirts is really eye-catching and I always feel like people are staring at them. Even back home they were a rarity. Everyone else had a flat back, and I hated the fact I didn’t. I feared they looked ridiculous and made me look ugly, no matter how many times mom told me it wasn’t true.”

I didn’t feel like this was a conversation to be had while lying on my back so I slowly rolled over, careful to not launch Alex off. He didn’t and just slid to the ground. I sat down beside him.

“You don’t have to apologize. I understand; I’m always worried about my claws. They leave scratches and easily damage things, so whenever I’m around other people I’m worried someone will call me out on it.”

“Even with me?”

I chuckled. “Especially with you. I care about you and your opinions, so I’m always more careful when you’re around. I don’t want you thinking I’m careless.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. If anything, I think you’re too careful sometimes. You know you walk around like you’re stepping on eggshells, right?”

I cocked my head. “I do?”

“Yeah, especially if other people come close. You tense up, fold your wing in closer, close your maw, and stuff like that. Are you really that afraid of accidentally hurting someone?”

Did I really do all that? I hadn’t even noticed. It made sense when I thought about it; I was always worried I might accidentally hurt someone. Or I had been, anyway, before I moved to the main campus. I hadn’t had to worry much about it here since pretty much everyone was high leveled. Maybe I’d taken the behavior with me?

“Oh, I didn’t know,” is all I could manage to say.

I just learned I acted like I was afraid of stepping on my own shadow. What else was there to say? I sighed and pushed the thoughts from my mind. I’d deal with them later. We were quiet for a while, before I remembered what I’d wanted to say before Alex brought up the eggshells.

“Alex?” I asked.

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to say that I don’t mind your ridges. I’m tough and covered in scales so I barely even notice they’re there. And if you’re still uncomfortable with your shirt with just me around, you’re welcome to just take it off; I’m hardly in a position to complain about a lack of clothes.”

“I might just take you up on that,” he said. “The shirt’s uncomfortable, anyway. It always gets stuck on the ridges and keeps riding up while I walk.”

“Also, I want you to know that I don’t think they make you look ugly,” I said, “If anything, I think they look cool and make you look attractive.”

“You think I’m attractive?” he asked with uncertainty.

Curse my brain. There was no turning back now. “I… yeah, I do.”

He hesitated for a moment and then smiled, though he looked a little uncomfortable with the idea of me finding him attractive.

“Thank you,” he said and paused. He started saying something a few times, only to stop. Eventually he settled on, “I think you look a—um, great too, so don’t let what the others say get to you. Especially not that asshole, Conad.”

“Which one?” I asked.

He sighed. “I’m sure things will work out just fine. Just give her some time, she’ll apologize.”

“I’m not sure that’ll be enough, honestly.”

“Don’t worry too much about it now. You’ll know when the time comes. In the meantime, aren’t you hungry? Some food might help take your mind off things. Let’s go eat lunch.”