Lost Change

Chapter 75

I gradually woke to the gentle rhythm of Minna's breathing. The scent of the oil lingered around me. I wrinkled my nose a little. It wasn't exactly unpleasant, but it was strong, and I wasn't that used to it. Minna must have covered me in the stuff after I had passed out.

My entire body felt extremely relaxed, though. I didn't even feel the need to stretch my legs or roll my shoulders and wings like I occasionally did in the mornings. I was rested, reenergized, and brimming with energy for the day.

Ivy had not been kidding about that stuff.

I felt a little bad at just falling asleep while Ivy had been visiting... but I dimly remembered Trenil mentioning something about spending the day with us as a checkup. If that was the case I would probably get the chance to make it up to her later.

Minna's hand rested near me, probably from where it had landed when she became too tired to keep petting me, and we were back in her room. I must have been so out of it from the massage that she had been able to carry me back without waking me.

On some level that seemed like it bothered me... or maybe more accurately, that it should bother me... but Minna hadn't done anything while I was out of it, or let anybody else do anything. I was alive, in one piece, and feeling better than ever. What was there to be upset about? If anything, this just served as more proof that I could trust Minna.

I carefully shifted off on Minna's stomach and sat up on the bed beside her. I wasn't sure what time it was and didn't want to wake her. There weren't any clocks in the room, and even if there were I doubted I could make much sense of the Kymari numbers. A quick glance around the room showed Minna had left her tablet on the nightstand, and I suspected it had some way of telling the time... but I still had no idea how to use the thing. And even if I did, I would still run into the same problem with trying to understand what the numbers meant.

I guess this was just going to be a part of the life I had accepted. I was living in a Kymari world, and there would be some points where Minna wouldn't be free to help me with it. I rested my head on the blanket and sighed, preparing myself to be bored for a while. It wouldn't necessarily be the worst thing that could happen - I had spent a lot of my time in the wild doing nothing, after all, so it wouldn't kill me to do nothing for a little bit here. But hopefully she wakes up before dawn... I'd hate to miss the Morning Song.

I felt a warm hand against my back as Minna reached over to pet me. "Good morning."

I was going to have to get better about not disturbing her when I woke up. Either she was just a very light sleeper, or else Kymari were a lot more alert than humans had been.

She stroked my back a few more times while I thrummed contentedly, then she rolled on her side and reached for her tablet. She tapped it a few times, then smiled. "It's close to dawn, but we still have some time. Do you want something to eat?"

My stomach answered that question with a hungry growl while I was still considering it. It informed us both that I had slept through dinner last night and was now in danger of starving to death if something was not done immediately.

Minna giggled and gave me another scratch over the scales on my back. "Okay, okay, I'll get you some food. Hold on, let me just get dressed."

I flew to the dresser while Minna got out of bed and prepared for the day. I pretended to be fascinated by my reflection in the heat lamp while she changed, and idly hoped whatever house she moved into would have some solution to this. I liked falling asleep next to her, but this had gone well past awkward by this point. I did not want her thinking I was some kind of Peeping Tom when I started talking to her.