Eleanor knocked on Osho's door for the 7th time before ringing the doorbell a few times in quick succession.
'Is he not back yet? Maybe he's still doing extra lectures?' She thought while scratching her head.
She'd completed her lectures around 2 in the afternoon, and after some rest, she decided to come and see Osho. There were a few things she wanted them to talk about in private.
She'd sort of assumed he'd be done by then as she was certain he was eager to apply whatever he learned from the lectures into his experiments.
However, after standing and trying to get someone to open the door for so long, she was starting to doubt whether he truly was around.
'Or maybe he is, and he's just so engrossed in his work that he can't be bothered to see who is trying to come in?' She mused. It was possible, especially with his tendency to hyperfocus on certain things.
However, her thoughts were cut short when she suddenly heard a 'click', and the door started to open.
She immediately snapped to attention, hoping to see her boyfriend. However, when the door fully opened, she saw no one.
Confused, she thought that maybe this was some odd prank, but a sudden huff caused her to look down.
"Oh. Bedrock." She blinked when she saw the small primate that was quickly getting pretty big.
Bedrock looked up at her with those brown eyes of his and then huffed again as he seemed to recognize her.
He turned and led her inside, to which Ellie quickly followed.
Seeing Bedrock filled her with some relief as that meant Osho was probably around, a guess that was quickly solidified when she saw Gale zooming through the residence at blinding speeds without somehow creating enough wind pressure to knock off anything remotely loose or smash into the many obstacles.
However, as soon as she sat, Gale stopped flying and almost instantly appeared in front of her, hovering.
"Hey Gale." Ellie said sweetly, and the bird just stared at her. The two of them locked gazes before Gale blinked seemingly confused and then seemed to realize something.
'He probably tried to speak to me telepathically and forgot that he can only do that with Osho.' She thought with some amusement.
Finally, Gale came out of his daze and opened his beak.
He screeched lightly while flapping his wings.
"Yeah. I have no idea what you just said." Ellie shrugged.
Gale snorted before tilting his head. Then, he seemed to concentrate a little, and a moment later, a faint whistling noise reached her ears.
It was a bit similar to the sound wind made when blowing over an area rapidly, but the pitch and depth were changing rapidly.
Just as Ellie was about to ask what Gale was doing, she heard it.
"Osho... Tired..." It was grainy and barely discernable, but it was there.
Ellie's eyes widened both in realization and surprise.
'Is he.. using the wind to speak?' She thought.
It wasn't unheard of for beasts past a certain rank to speak. In fact, it became the norm when they reached a certain point. However, using his control over the wind to mimic sounds wasn't something Ellie had ever heard of before, and from what she could tell, Gale had just done it on the spot.
'That's... very impressive, actually.' She thought with genuine awe before refocusing.
"Tired? How?" She tilted her head. Had Osho's lectures been that extreme?
'I guess those sorts of courses are a bit harder than the rest. But I didn't think it was that bad.' She rubbed her chin.
"Strained... himself..." Gale continued, and Ellie immediately frowned.
"... What? How?" She asked, her tone shifting from confusion to worry in an instant.
Gale was about to continue when he paused and looked to the side.
Ellie followed his gaze, and she saw a hand reached around the corner, and a moment later, a figure emerged from the hallway, and Ellie's eyes widened.
His dark skin almost seemed dried up, and his face was sunken in like he hadn't eaten in days. His posture was slightly hunched, and he slightly leaned against the wall for support.
The only thing that seemed the same was his bright eyes that looked like they had just found gold, but it did nothing to ease her shock at his haggard appearance.
"Osho!" Ellie shot to her feet instantly, but Gale and Bedrock were faster.
Gale flew to his side and allowed Osho to lean his weight against him while Bedrock stood by his side, watching his unsteady steps carefully.
Ellie reached them a moment later, her hands immediately coming to Osho's sunken cheeks as she inspected his body with wide eyes.
"Wha–What happened to you?! Did you fight someone? This looks like severe energy depletion!" She exclaimed. He seemed so frail, so fragile, which was a far cry from his normal appearance.
This was arguably worse than what he looked like after his fight with Peter!
"I'm... Okay, not fine... But... I'll explain... just... help me to the chair..." He asked in a hoarse voice, and it seemed like he couldn't even raise his voice past a certain level.
Ellie pressed her lips together.
However, she said nothing else as she, along with Osho's beasts, moved Osho to the couch where he was eased onto it.
"Do you need anything? Food? Water? Potions, maybe?" Ellie asked resolutely, immediately wanting to do whatever she could to help Osho through whatever this is.
Osho seemed to hesitate, but he soon relented as even he was aware of just how dire his situation seemed to be.
"Food... please. Preferably something soft and liquid... with some water." He finally asked, and Ellie immediately stood and walked to the kitchen.
Gale and Bedrock shared a look before Bedrock shifted closer to Osho while Gale glided after Ellie.
Both of them soon reached the large kitchen, and Ellie didn't hesitate as she started opening cabinets and the fridge to look for ingredients.
Gale hovered over her, seeming to consider what to do to help. Then, as if remembering something, he flapped his wings, and a gust of wind shot out, but it wasn't strong or overbearing, but soft and precise. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel-fire.ɴet
Ellie watched as several places were opened, pulling out specific ingredients and setting them on the countertop
Ellie looked at Gale with surprise and questioning, and Gale 'spoke'.
"Osho... made... before..."
Ellie blinked before she quickly understood. Gale must have made remembered Osho cooking something before and decided to have Ellie replicate it.
"... Alright. Guide me." She nodded, and Gale happily obliged.
What followed was an interesting scene of a beautiful girl chopping and preparing ingredients while a four-winged bird directed her steps, occasionally helping.
There were a few mishaps, especially in the area of communication, but through effort from both sides, they managed to make it work.
Eventually, a pot of fragrant and bubbling beef stew sat on the stove, and Ellie exhaled, a bit satisfied by the feat.
She held out her hand, and Gale understood perfectly as he hovered over and flapped one wing against her open palm. A high-five between woman and beast.
Ellie them quickly put some of the food into a bowl and moved to the living room where Osho still sat.
His eyes were closed, and his body was still, but he was breathing, albeit faintly.
He didn't seem to be at risk of dying, but his condition truly wasn't good.
Ellie pulled a stool from a corner and sat on it with the bowl in her hands.
"Hey... Osho." She said softly, and a moment later, his eyes cracked open.
"Mm... Pretty..." He mumbled, seemingly unconsciously.
Ellie felt her cheeks heat up, but she ignored it and huffed.
"Flirting isn't gonna get you anywhere. Now, open your mouth." She said, fully aware that even if Osho was properly coherent, he'd have said that he was just stating the truth.
Osho didn't try to resist as he opened his mouth, and Ellie scooped a spoon of the soup, blew on it lightly, and placed it into Osho's mouth.
As soon as she took it out, his jaw started working, and a moment later, he swallowed.
"Is it good?" She asked gently, both to coax him and to genuinely know.
Osho nodded slightly, and Ellie smiled as she scooped up another spoon and fed him.
What followed was a few minutes of silence as Ellie patiently spoon-fed Osho, with the only sound being the clinking of metal against his teeth.
Some time later, the bowl was mostly empty, and Osho's eyes seemed a bit more lively than before.
"Thank you..." He said softly, but his voice was a bit stronger now.
"No problem." Ellie nodded as she prepared to carry the empty bowl to the kitchen, but Gale just chirped, and a bit of wind carried it out of her hands and into the kitchen.
Ellie gave Gale a thankful nod before sitting next to Osho.
She slowly guided his body, and he didn't resist as Ellie lay his head in her lap, and for a moment, both of them were silent as she started to run her fingers over his scalp.