Chapter 88: Fish Can Swim

Blair woke up feeling so relaxed and way too comfortable.

Just then, the bedroom door opened. A shirtless Daemus walked in, carrying a large silver tray in his hands and wearing a bright, easygoing smile.

"You’re awake! Good morning!" he greeted cheerfully.

Blair slowly sat up, squinting her eyes against the bright morning light streaming through the windows. She let out a soft yawn and stretched her arms above her head. As she moved, the duvet slid down her body. When the cool air nipped at her bare breasts, the realization finally hit her: she was still naked from the night before.

Surprisingly, the embarrassment she usually felt didn’t immediately take over. Still, she quickly grabbed the edge of the duvet and pulled it back up to her collarbone, a slight, shy blush dusting her pale cheeks as she returned his greeting. "Good morning."

"A morning show. Thank you, Moon Goddess," Daemus muttered playfully as he sat down on the edge of the mattress.

He laid the silver tray down in front of her. It was a mouth-watering feast. There were fluffy scrambled eggs, thick slices of French toast, perfectly fried sausages, and golden hashbrowns.

"Bon appétit, beautiful," Daemus said smoothly.

Blair stared at the food. Breakfast in bed. It was her very first time experiencing something so... romantic. Tucked next to a tall glass of freshly squeezed orange juice was a single, perfect red rose.

"Thank you," Blair whispered softly.

She looked from the delicious tray up to Daemus, and then back down at the tray. It looked amazing, and she was starving, but.... She was suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that she had just woken up. She hadn’t freshened up yet, her hair was likely a tangled bird’s nest, and she was terrified she might have dried drool on her cheek.

"I am going to freshen up real quick," Blair told him, her face reddening slightly. She clutched the duvet tighter to her chest and stuttered out, "C-Could you turn around, please?"

Daemus raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"How can you still be shy after last night?" Daemus teased, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "And you’re my girlfriend now. What’s wrong with me seeing you naked?"

Blair’s heart skipped a beat at hearing him call her his girlfriend.

"I didn’t agree to it yet," she shyly argued, looking down at the duvet.

"Yet," Daemus repeated, a victorious smirk touching his lips. "Which means it will eventually happen. Why wait for you to think and overthink? I like you, you like me. We should just go for it."

Blair bit her bottom lip. She knew Daemus was incredibly stubborn; if she just flat-out rejected him, he would only push harder.

"How about we just date for a bit first?" Blair suggested as a compromise.

Daemus’s smirk widened. "Okay. I can work with that." He leaned forward, resting his hands on the mattress on either side of her hips. "Do dating couples kiss?"

Blair’s face instantly burned a brilliant shade of crimson. "Sometimes," she stuttered out.

Daemus leaned in closer, his silver eyes dropping to her lips.

Blair immediately threw her hand up, covering her mouth. "I have morning breath!" she protested, her voice muffled against her palm.

"Baby, beastmen didn’t even know toothbrushes and toothpaste existed until we got to this world," Daemus countered smoothly, undeterred. He leaned in another fraction, his voice dropping into a low, coaxing rumble. "Just one kiss. Please."

Reluctantly, Blair slowly lowered her hand.

The second her hand moved, Daemus recoiled. He threw himself backward, waving a hand frantically in front of his nose, his face twisted in a look of dramatic horror.

"Woah," Daemus gasped loudly. "It’s bad. Bad."

Blair slapped both hands over her mouth, absolutely mortified. She felt like she wanted to die on the spot.

But then, Daemus burst into a loud, booming fit of laughter.

"I’m kidding! I’m kidding!" Daemus laughed, holding his hands up in surrender as he saw the horror in her eyes.

Blair was not amused. She narrowed her eyes into a furious glare. He still wanted that kiss, leaning back in with an apologetic grin, but Blair wasn’t having it. She scrambled out from under the covers and bolted, running butt-naked across the bedroom and slamming the bathroom door shut behind her.

Daemus watched her go. He really enjoyed watching her go.

But as she sprinted across the room, his sharp eyes caught a detail that immediately sobered him up.

There was no limp.

She had a severe ligament sprain in her ankle. Yet she had just bolted, putting her full weight on both feet without a single wince or hitch in her stride.

Daemus’s expression turned serious. He reached into his sweatpants pocket and pulled out his phone.

He unlocked the screen, immediately returning to the web browser he had left open late last night. He continued his deep-dive search on "pink-eyed beastmen."

Daemus hadn’t believed her for a second when she swore she was human. He had no idea what she was talking about when she started throwing around big science words like "chromosomes" and "residual radiation" to explain her condition. It sounded like complete bullshit. He wasn’t a doctor, but he knew for a fact that no illness or injury could cause a human to not look human. The pink iris was impossible to fake.

But the real puzzle was the motive. Why would a beastman keep the fact that they were a beastman a secret?

He had long ruled out the "bored princess" plot. What else was there? Was she a fugitive running from the Beast King’s justice? Or maybe she belonged to a faction that was supposed to have been forcefully driven to extinction?

Nothing matched up. Pink eyes were very rare across all known beast species.

His search results were unhelpful, mostly yielding animated cartoons or edgy artist drawings of fantasy monsters.

He scrolled further down the page. One obscure cryptozoology website mentioned a terrifying breed of fish.