26. Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cody
Morgan slipped out early the next morning to head to work, giving Cody a quick kiss before leaving.
An hour or so later, Cody walked into the kitchen to find Nyrah and Yana already there, eating scrambled eggs and toast. Well, Yana was eating what looked like an entire carton of scrambled eggs and a stack of toast, while Nyrah was nibbling on a spoonful of egg.
Nyrah immediately put her spoon down and stood.
She gave Cody a tight smile that didn’t quite match her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her chest.
“Cody Hampshire! Can I make you something for breakfast?” she asked. “I have several delicious recipes connected to my profile that I can use with your magic cooking box.”
“No, thanks.” He started up a pot of coffee and popped some bread in the toaster, but turned back to Nyrah. “Sorry about last night.”
He felt it needed to be said. Nyrah definitely needed to know he was off-limits and dating Morgan, but they may have gone overboard while proving their point.
Cody couldn’t help but feel bad for Nyrah.
Yana had already explained the whole Heartmate thing to him, but he still felt it was pretty far-fetched that Nyrah was in love with him even though she barely knew him.
Either way, unrequited love was still a shitty thing to experience and there was definitely a part of him that felt sorry for Nyrah.
Nyrah sat back down, completely drained of her perkiness. “Are you going to ask us to leave?”
“Are you even able to go home?” Cody asked.
“We don’t know,” Yana said. “We would need to speak with Temica.”
“I don’t want to talk to her.” Nyrah looked like she was about to cry, and it was really pulling on Cody’s heartstrings again. “And I don’t want to go home. I want to stay here. With you.”
Cody sighed and rubbed his face, trying to fully wake up.
This was a lot to think about pre-coffee.
He couldn’t help but want to help them out.
They were strangers in a strange world they didn’t understand.
He knew what that was like, firsthand. He’d had no one when he first arrived in Velasarin.
He didn’t wish that kind of experience on anyone.
And if he wanted to finish the game, he needed to level them up.
But he couldn’t help but feel that Temica had probably brought them here for a reason other than the game itself.
This whole Heartmate thing, and the drama it created, was probably that reason.
“You can stay,” Cody said. “For now. But you have to respect Morgan and no more Heartmate stuff. Got it?”
“I understand,” Nyrah said quietly.
“Thank you,” Yana added.
“Anyway, I have some stuff to do in town.” He had cut back on his Doris breakfasts now that her Friendship had maxed out, but he still had the other Residents to work on.
He was sticking with his running theory that if he completed everything the game would end.
He had no other brilliant plans to get rid of Temica, so it was worth a shot.
“May I come to town with you?” Nyrah asked.
“No.” Cody did not need to put any thought into that answer. It was one thing to let them stay in his guestroom, but entirely different if he started spending time with them, especially Nyrah.
Once his breakfast was made, he wordlessly left the kitchen and ate in his bedroom in peace.
He finished getting ready and walked to town to make his rounds.
He only needed one more bakery purchase to finish his Friendship Levels with William.
He was trying to space it out and cut back on his sugar, now that his initial celebration of being back on Earth had come to an end.
Cody didn’t really like admitting it, but Knife was right.
If he kept eating junk food at the rate he was going, he was going to start packing on the pounds.
At the bakery, Cody bought a single cinnamon roll from William, and the expected notification popped up:
[Congratulations! You have completed your fifth and final Friendship Level with Resident William Brooks! You are now Good Friends!]
He supposed that meant William now considered Cody a good friend, even if Cody wasn’t sure he felt the same about William. He was a nice enough guy, but he barely knew him. Maybe in time he’d be better friends with William. It would be nice to have a guy friend in Cornerstone.
Cody found himself reaching out to Knife, but stopped himself.
Nope. If Knife wanted to be a dick and continue to give him the silent treatment, that was Knife’s problem, not his.
Cody had much bigger problems than a self-centered asshole being a jerk, and he hoped Knife saw that he was thinking that.
Cody still hadn’t figured out how he was supposed to earn Friendship Levels with Doug, and Marigold was also a mystery.
He’d gone in to visit her at the pet shop once since their first meeting, and it was just as awkward as the first time.
He was too overwhelmed by everything to even begin to think about adopting a pet.
Plus, he felt like it wouldn’t be very fair to whatever animal he adopted, since his attention was currently being pulled in multiple stressful directions.
He might have to get a pet eventually, but he’d work on Friendship Levels for everyone else first and then come back and try to figure out Doug and Marigold.
Gracie was also a bit of a trouble spot, since her Friendship Levels seemed to coincide with her giving him fetch quests. It was simple enough, but he rarely saw her, and he was pretty sure Doug wanted to keep it that way.
Then there was Bob. Cody enjoyed fishing, but worrying about catching the right fish for Bob’s collection made it a lot less enjoyable. Cody was pissed at the game for taking something like fishing, something he liked to do to relax, and managed to make it stressful.
He also had Yana and Nyrah to worry about, but was hesitant in that department, especially since the game wanted to unlock Romance for Nyrah once he completed his five Friendship Levels with her.
He hadn’t achieved any Friendship Levels with Yana so far, and he felt it was safe to assume she wasn’t going to be a Romance option.
He never had to deal with two girls fighting for his love before this.
Having more than one girl into you at the same time certainly seemed like a good time in Grandpa Sam’s books, but it was not fun in real life.
Although, if the girls all got along, as they did in the books…
Cody would feel entirely different about the situation.
But that was not the hand he was dealt. Instead he had Morgan asserting her dominance and Nyrah quietly crying about it.
Cody polished off his cinnamon roll, crumpled up the brown paper bag it had come in, and tossed it in a trash can.
As soon as he turned around to head to the library he saw a familiar head of fluffy brown hair disappear into the space between buildings, about two shops down.
He sighed and made his way over. Sure enough, Nyrah was there, doing a very bad job at hiding from him.
At least she was wearing her necklace and looked like a human.
“Seriously?” Cody asked. “Did you follow me?”
“Um…” She was unable to meet his eyes and wringing her hands. “I missed you. Please let me walk around town with you. I’ll be good. I promise.”
Cody shook his head and started to walk away. “No, Nyrah. The answer is no.”
But she followed, walking slightly behind him. “But I really want to talk to you about something. And spend time with you.”
“No.” Cody kept walking.
“If you talk to me about this one little thing, I’ll turn around and go home as soon as we’re done.”
“One thing,” Cody said, hoping it would appease her and she really would leave him alone once she said her piece. “And we’re walking to the library as you say it.”
[Congratulations! You have completed your second Friendship Level with Resident Nyrah Rose! Only three more to go until Romance is Unlocked!]
Cody flinched and swore under his breath.
“What is it? Are you okay?” Nyrah asked. She reached out as if she were going to touch his arm, but he glared at her and she quickly withdrew.
“I just have to be nice to you, and I earn a Friendship Level?” Cody asked.
“Oh, did you get a Friendship Level for me?” Her cheeks grew rosy and she was pressing her lips together, fighting a smile. “I didn’t even know I was on your list! How many are we at now?”
“I’m not telling you.” He also hadn’t told her about the Romance thing.
“You know I don’t have any control over this game stuff. Please don’t be mad at me. Please let me stay and say what I wanted to say to you.”
“Fine. Spit it out already.” Cody picked up the pace, but she kept up with him.
“Do you know much about nekofae culture?”
She was walking alongside him with a little bounce in her step, which was kind of nice.
Not because of what it was doing to her generous boobs in her tiny pink tank top, but he liked this happy version of Nyrah more than the sad and crying version.
The sad one made him feel awful. The happy bouncy one was… mildly annoying.
“No, I don't know anything about nekofae,” Cody said. “Didn’t run into many of your kind in Velasarin. You’re kind of rare, aren’t you?”
“Yes, we’re quite rare. And a predominantly female race. Because of this, we often share our males when it comes time to settle down and we start making babies.”
This was sounding eerily familiar to certain plot points in Grandpa Sam’s books.
“So, what? You expect Morgan to share me and I date both of you?” Cody asked.
Nyrah gasped. “Oh, goddess, no! I expect you to leave Morgan so you can be with both me and Yana. She is my very best friend who I love in a strictly platonic way, and I’ve always intended to share my Heartmate with her, if I ever found my one true love.
Yana is hopeless with men and I don’t think she’d be able to find a husband on her own. ”
Cody stopped and turned to look at Nyrah, narrowing his eyes. “You think Yana is the one who's bad at relationship stuff?”
“Yes. Plus, ever since we got here, she’s been obsessed with the magic box and learning everything about Foreign Sicks. I’m sorry she’s been ignoring you. But she will learn to love you just as much as I do. And don’t you think being loved by two women would be better than one?”
“No, and this line of bargaining is not going to work.” Cody started walking again.
“But will you please think about it?”
“I do not need to think about it. The answer is no.”
He could see the tears welling in her eyes, and he really didn’t like the way it made him feel, because it made him feel like shit.
Like he was being a horrible person. Even though logically he had every right to brush her off and tell her no, he still hated the way every conversation ended with him breaking her heart.
One single tear dripped down her cheek and she kept looking up at him, not wiping it away.
“Nyrah…” he said, his voice low. “The answer is no. And I’m not going to be able to let you stay at my place while you and Yana figure things out unless you stop this.”
The girl was a walking red flag hellbent on destroying his relationship with Morgan, but for some stupid reason he couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. He rubbed his face, making a futile attempt to clear his head.
“You’re wondering why,” she said quietly.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re wondering why you can’t tell me to leave.”
Cody was silent and watched as another tear rolled down her cheek. He kept telling himself he was doing this, helping her, because he needed to earn Yana and Nyrah’s Friendship Levels to finish the game. But it was also because he would have liked some help when he first arrived in Velasarin.
Sometimes Cody hated the fact that he always felt the need to help people.
It only got worse in Velasarin, as he leveled up his skills and became more and more competent at assisting people.
Like running into the burning temple to save the priestesses instead of running to find someone else to take care of it.
There was always that overwhelming, compelling need to do the right thing.
Which was also part of the reason he fought so hard to get back to Morgan; so he could finally do the right thing and fix what he broke years ago.
“I’m right?” Nyrah asked. “You’re wondering why?”
Cody nodded slowly, but instantly regretted it. “Don’t try to spin this into me having feelings for–”
“I wasn’t going to. It’s because of this.
” She took a step forward, reaching out her hand to his chest. Her fingers brushed the fabric of his T-shirt before he had a chance to step back.
She let her hand fall to her side. “You really do have a Heart of Gold. And watching others in pain and sadness, no matter the cause, makes you want to fix things. That’s simply who you are.
And even though I don’t really know you, as a person, I know what kind of person you are, and that is the kind of person I want to spend my life with.
As a Heartseer, it is the kind of person I am meant to spend my life with.
You are also the only person who I can share the gift of love with. ”
Yana had already briefed him a little bit about the whole Heartseer thing, and Nyrah’s words sounded so sincere he almost wanted to believe her. He watched as she blinked a few times, and then she finally took a deep breath and wiped her tears away.
“I’m not leaving Morgan,” Cody said. “Now go home and don’t follow me again.”
Without further argument, she turned around and slowly walked away.
Cody Hampshire Player Stats
Friendship Moments: Gracie: 2/5, Nyrah: 2/5
Full Friendship: Doris, William
Romance Moments: Morgan: 7/10
Relationship Status: Definitely in a Relationship and Not Interested in Any Harem Shenanigans