"Aren't you a pretty Daisy?" Nia cooed, snuggling the kitten again, which seemed to have forgiven the tiny redhead for her abusive treatment just a few minutes earlier and was purring contentedly.
"No, not Daisy, that's way too girly.” Ellis paused in a rare moment of thoughtfulness, “How about…how about Potatoes? I really like potatoes and so…"
Nia paused, stroking the kitten’s ears, "Alright, Ellis."
"Now come on." Ellis announced cheerily, standing up, "Let's head to your village. Which way is it?"
Nia stood slowly, holding Potatoes in her arms, gesturing towards a path just visible through the trees, "That way."
Ellis nodded, taking off towards the trail. Nia trailed after him, unusually slow, until Ellis jerked back to look at her again, "God, woman, you're walking so slow!"
"I still don’t feel good…" She mumbled quietly, frowning.
Ellis sighed heavily, taking Potatoes from her arms and turning so his back faced her, bending his knees, "Get on."
Nia hesitated, slowly wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifted her up, one arm sliding her one of her legs, the other still holding Potatoes, and with that, they walked to the trail in silence.
The silence dragged on for an hour and a half as he carried her on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck and her chin on his shoulder.
"Are you bored?" She asked sweetly, tilting her head to the side to observe his grim expression.
"Yes." The vampire replied, arching an eyebrow.
"I spy with my little eye…" Nia began in a singsong voice.
"I hate this game."
"Something green!" She interrupted, ignoring his bitter tone.
His eyebrow twitched slightly, heaving a sigh then answering, "Trees."
"I spy with my little eye…" Nia continued without a breath of hesitation.
"Isn't it my turn now?" Ellis pouted.
"Something brown!"
"Trees." Ellis groaned, squeezing his irritated eyes shut.
She squeezed his neck slightly, giving him a grin, "You're pretty good at this, you know."
He shrugged, smirking a bit, "I'm a master at all kinds of things, kid. ‘I spy’ included."
Rolling her eyes, Nia suddenly spotted her village in the distance, "I spy with my little eye…" pausing to give Ellis time to interrupt, which he surprisingly didn't, "something wooden!"
He stopped abruptly, twisting his head to stare at her, "Stupid, that's now how you play!"
She pouted, letting go of his neck to awkwardly to cross her arms, "Everything's green and brown here, I had to change it up! Besides, why would you care, you hate this game anyways!"
"I hate it even more when you go and change the rules!" He retorted with a smug snort.
He abruptly took his arm out from under her legs to cross them himself, letting her fall with a tiny squeal to the ground.
He turned, towering over her and glaring darkly, "Never change the rules again!" then turned and stormed off towards her village.
She winced, jumping to her feet with a slight touch to her throbbing stomach before chasing after him into her village as thunder clouds began to roll overhead, quietly whispering soft rumbles to those beneath.
Chapter Five
Nia watched from several yards away as Ellis came to an abrupt stop, pacing for several moments then turning around to wait for her, foot tapping in restless agitation.
"Hurry up you stupid, slow, tater tot, short-"
"What's up?" Nia asked breathlessly as soon as she was able to catch up, huffing just slightly in an attempt to catch her breath.
For a girl trotting around mysterious forests on a regular basis, Ellis observed, the redhead was certainly having some difficulty.
Ellis simply pointed with his free arm up towards the sky, where all Nia could see were some low, dark clouds. Potatoes, however, mewled in sympathetic understanding.
Ellis snuggled the kitty up under his chin, directing a short glare at the redhead, "You're the only one who really gets me, Potatoes." He whispered to cat with a pitiful sigh.
Nia groaned, rolling her eyes and striding past him towards where the village waited only a small sprint away.
Ellis, however, had other plans, grabbing her arm in a harsh hold, "I can't, stupid. The sun."
He gave another exaggerated motion with this pale hand towards the overcast sky.
She frowned, glancing around for a few moments, judging the distance to the village. The pair were settled at the edge of the forest, her village located just a few yards out in a clearing – however, for those yards there were no trees to block any incoming sunlight, and once they were in the village there was no place but her home to shield Ellis. The others, she figured, would be less welcoming of the pale egotistical vampire.