The Non-Human Society

Chapter 150 - Vim - A Painting He Remembers. A Bath She Desires.

      Renn's room smelled like her.

I sat on one of the two chairs that her room had. The one that was used for the desk. The only other chair in the room was off in a corner, near the bed. It had a nightgown loosely draped over it.

The moonlight illuminated the room... a little too much for my liking. Thanks to the large windows, and the fact that she hadn't closed the drapes at all. Maybe she liked to stare out the window as she fell asleep.

Today had been a rough day. In more ways than one. And... my original plan had been to sneak in here and start the bath. The idea had been to get in and wait for Renn, but... well...

Shifting, I caused shadows to dance in the room. They bothered me, since they reminded me of how bright the moon was tonight.

Yet... the moonlight right now was something I was a little thankful for. It let me appreciate Renn's handiwork better.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes to not just spend a moment enjoying her scent... but to also calm myself.

I had come here to reward her. To give her what I had promised, since she had fulfilled my request in turn. And honestly... to relax a little. I was frustrated, and although wanted to be alone... knew better than to do so. And right now, Renn was the one I wanted to be not alone with.

Yet...

Opening my eyes, I glared at the reason I had chosen to sit on the chair in the middle of her room, instead of starting the bath.

I should have known this would happen.

I should have known this day wasn't done with making me feel horrible.

Renn had painted the thing I had asked her to. She had done it flawlessly too.

My memory was of course, not as perfect as hers. So I wasn't entirely sure if it really was an actual replica as the one I now remembered seeing at the Sleepy Artist... but there it was.

A small village. With fields of wheat and wooden houses with thatch roofs.

Looming over the village was a large Epoch Cross. It looked far too big to be real, but it was obviously symbolic more than literal. It loomed over everything in the picture, imposingly. The sun was setting in the painting, and had been painted in such a way that the dusk and burnt red sky from the setting sun made the cross look almost as if it was on fire.

The meaning was obvious. It represented the cleansing fire of the Epoch Laws. The laws where those undeserving and unwilling to bend the knee were burnt at the cross.

I couldn't recognize the village at all... but luckily it seemed like it wasn't too concerning for me. The village, and the scene, didn't have anything in it that I needed to panic over just yet.

It could be the past, or the future... but neither mattered much right now.

What mattered, instead of that painting which was resting over against the wall... finished and done... was instead the one now on the easel before me.

The half finished painting was strangely more concerning than this afternoon's events.

The painting of my old friend and his daughter.

Rungle and Stumble.

Renn had only finished about half the painting so far... Stumble was the only one finished in totality. Rungle who was mostly in the background of the painting wasn't even finished enough to notice. But I knew it was him. And not just because I'd recognize that scarred hand from anywhere.

Stumble had been sitting on his lap while this had been painted. On his knee, laughing giddily.

I took another deep breath, and this time I almost couldn't smell Renn as I did so.