'Thank the dead gods for this chair,' He praised in his head
All this standing lectures and pacing around were straining his poor, marred tootsies. The new sandals he was given were not helping since even this body had the same inconvenient trait of being flat footed. Oh, how he lamented the lack of an opportunity to massage his feet but he guessed it would be pretty bad to show his bare feet in front of the Frontier lord's daughter.
'Whatever, let's just think about what we need to do next. Lets see… we finished out rhetoric lesson about 5 hours ago, Divine logic and tactics 2 hours ago and now we are on the holy methods'
He grimaced to himself at that last thought.
'Can't believe I have to do math even in a nightmare'
"I mean it's that or die because you couldn't teach the lord's number one heir math, but hey! Be proud of yourself, Mr. Masu would say you have had improved,"
He glanced at the aforementioned heir, well the more appropriate would have been heiress but he had never heard anyone say that or at least the spell didn't translate their words to heiress. She was furiously scribbling into some kind of, reptile-hide journal. Her brow was furrowed and she had that funny look he'd often gleam when she focused on something. It was… nice to look at. In this sluggish nightmare where doom crawled and closer by the day… It was nice to have something that could make him smirk. Of course he hid those grins like a kid who stole candy from the candy jar, just his punishment would be more severe than some silly child's.
Hectre's stoic facade was all encompassing as he first thought it was. He didn't think it was a facade at first, surprising himself when he first had the thought. The first week she was as stolid as a statue, she spoke a few times and barely moved, at least that's what he first thought but as he taught himself to be more perceptive he began to notice the little details about her. The way she sat so casually around him, her habit of pushing her short hair back when she contemplated a question, the way she'd twirl her pencil when she was trying to solve a mathematical problem and the sheer white look of her facial scars. They weren't many nor were they gruesome, but they did tell a story, one he was curious about.
'I wonder where she got them from'
Abruptly, she slammed her journal shut and placed it beside her.
"I'm done,"
Nyiko's eyes widened, he didn't expect her to be that boisterous about managing to solve the problem to even let her stoic mask slip a little. Must have been much more troublesome than he initially thought.
"Well done on finishing it lady Hectre, now let me check your…" before he could finish as he stood up from his seat Hectre interrupted.
"I mean I refuse to carry on raking my poor mind over the rakes of burning coals that are this abominable question! As well am I done with every other lesson we have today" She finished her statement by falling onto her back atop of her bed, spread eagle.
Nyiko was mildly surprised, this was the first time he had seen her so emotive during the week and a half he had been teaching her.
'What do I do in this situation?'
"I don't know, maybe talk to her!"
'I don't know if that's a good idea, wouldn't it be weird for her slave to do this?'
"Hey, Tinyiko. Myself, you need to get out of this mindset. If we want any chance to get out of here, we need her help. Think about it, this could just be like that trope about the princess who feels stuck in her castle and wishes to leave. If we become her confidant, we can leave with her."
He sat still in his seat for heart beats, letting the silence fill the room before the two of them. That silence didn't last long as he dragged the chair he sat on closer to her bed. He hesitated before he spoke.
"L-lady Hectre, is something the matter?"
She turned her head towards him, her expression screamed that she was not in the mood.
She let out a sigh, "You know… you have strangeness about your slave."
Nyiko laughed awkwardly
"What do you mean my lady?" He gently questioned
"It's your face, or more to say the way you use it. That fake smile of yours feels inhuman, like you don't know how to. When I see you not putting on that face, I don't I'm exactly looking at. It's like your face is supposed to be showing something but it is unaware what it should be showing. Like there's nothing behind your eyes"
Nyiko's face was still, blank even. Just like she had just described it.
He couldn't think of a proper response to what she told him, what would he even say. Nothing, he could say nothing. Some part of him cursed himself for lacking the ability to form a simple thought.
Hectare turned her head away from him, her tired eyes gazing into the ceiling of her bedroom.
"Whatever…", she sighed deeply.
"I tire of all this…formality, we have to do. All this primness and properness and etiquette and, and…" She gave on trying to finish her sentence and just flailed her arms in the air.
"From now on, when it's just the two of us, just address me as a peer and to be fair to you, I will treat you the same,"
Hearing her words made his brain finally start working again. He pursed his lips in thought, the idea… was a nice thought but it wasn't really all that good for him. It didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.
"Hectre… I wouldn't quite say it's fair. I'm still a slave afterall, what kind of fairness could I ever have?"
Grabbing a pillow from that laid against her shabby headboard, she hugged the pillow and sat up. Her chin dug into the pillow, it didn't look comfortable since the pillow was not at all fluffy, more sad than anything. Her eyes moved to stare at him though her head didn't turn, her brown irises radiated a pettiness even he could recognize.
"You should be thankful that I even offered such a thing to you, eunuch. I'm sure other nobles treat their slaves far worse, a friendship with the wonderful and powerful heir of the Fourth Frontier."
Scooching closer to her, Nyiko didn't try to put on a friendly smile. His efforts to look friendly were not working, [Destined] seemed not to want to help him with this task. He spoke with her honestly instead, his hands wrapped around themselves as he did.
"I'm… weird as you've mentioned. I've known that for a long time now. It's not bad really, to be different from others but it's also so lonely. I find it hard to form connections with anyone, to make an impact on anyone. I know that's weird for someone of my occupation, but it's true. Even talking to you is hard and I'm forced to do that"
He chuckled, it was an awkward one because not even he knew if it was fake or natural. He carried on:
"Its not like I don't want to, I certainly want to. It's one of my greatest desires actually! It's just… something… I don't know. Something just stops me."
He took a shaky breath, as his eyes seemed to become a little wet before he blinked them dry. Hectare didn't say anything, she just listened.
"I-I'm sorry if this may be just my ramblings, all I want to say is… I am grateful for your offer, Hectre but if you want to treat me fairly then I only ask that we try to trust in each other to not cause harm to one another. If I can put my faith in you, then you can put your faith in me"
He let out a deep sigh as he finished. His hands were clasped with fingers tightly pressed against the grooves between his knuckles, the only sign that showed he was holding back something that threatened to erupt out of him.
The longest second of his life passed before she answered him.
"Sure,"
She shrugged,
"It's not a hard thing to promise, just don't get drunk on hope and expect the impossible from me. Ok?"
She smiled, one that was carefree and lovely. The only thing that was nice in this nightmare.
"O-ok!"
He smiled back, a genuine one. A smile that was wild and what many would say was bright and lovely. She seemed to like it as she bared all her canines at him when she saw it.
"Oh and also! By the gods your lessons suck,"
He silently laughed hard at that.
"Don't worry, I have plans to change that but we'll figure it out as we go."
She nodded.
And like that, something happened that Nyiko would have never imagined would happen in the depths of a nightmare. He had made a friend.