Omega's Rebirth

"Lydia? You needed me?" Neveah asked as she got to the kitchen where Lydia did all her baking.

"Oh, Veah. Come on in." Lydia beckoned on Neveah with a bright smile.

The smell of the freshly baked pastries had long already reached Neveah but arriving so close to it, a small smile settled on her lips.

"This smells heavenly." Neveah said truthfully.

"I sure do hope it tastes as good, I’ve been trying out this new recipe I came up with, you see." Lydia said as she picked up a star shaped pastry and handed it to Neveah.

"Oh... I get to do the tasting, I see..." Neveah hummed with a grin as she accepted the pastry.

"What can I do? Your taste buds are shockingly accurate...you can pick out practically any flaw." Lydia defended with a pout.

"Spending all your life being wary of what you eat does that to you." Neveah replied unconsciously as she took a bite.

Neveah chewed on it slowly, savoring the taste.

"What do you think?" Lydia asked eagerly.

"Did you add some kind of nut to this?" Neveah asked with a raised brow.

"Just the slightest extract of mist nuts... I hoped it wouldn’t be too noticeable since the nuts have a bitter aftertaste." Lydia admitted sheepishly.

"Well, you did a good enough job getting rid of the aftertaste...but it still shows." Neveah replied with a smile.

"So what do you think I can do? Nuts make the taste so much better, that aftertaste is just the trouble." Lydia huffed out in frustration.

"You know I don’t cook or bake." Neveah pointed out.

"Not because you can’t, you simply do not fancy such activities. But this is my pride and joy so you have to help me out here." Lydia countered with a pout that was strikingly identical to Roman’s.

"Fine, fine." Neveah laughed quietly as she moved over to the table and stared over the ingredients Lydia made use of.

"The thing is, you did add the nut extract in just a slight portion, it should not be so noticeable... it’s just that I would pick it out either ways, so long as it’s present." Neveah assured Lydia.

"And there are others with taste buds as sensitive as yours, I can’t risk it... this has to be perfect." Lydia said with a sigh.

"I hear you." Neveah replied as she studied the ingredients closely.

"When I tasted it... everything was just right till I took note of a strange taste, I did not know immediately that it was nut." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Most likely because it was the blend of nuts and something else here, whatever that ingredient was, it hid the taste of the nut almost perfectly."

"Perhaps you can add more of that or a more potent alternative, but not so much it interferes with the original taste." Neveah suggested.

Conversing about such casual activities and day to day life had become the new norm for Neveah these past ten days.

Not having to think about survival for so long, not having to feel caged, it was a strange and unfamiliar feeling to Neveah.

"Could you pick it out? I added so many ingredients." Lydia asked hopefully.

Neveah hummed quietly before she took another bite of the pastry and then nodded in response.

"It will take a moment." Neveah said to Lydia.

One after the other, Neveah tasted each of the ingredients, combining it with a finger dip in the nut extract till she found it.

"You’re a lifesaver!" Lydia exclaimed in relief.

Neveah laughed quietly, shaking her head and stepping away to give Lydia her space.

"But really Veah, wouldn’t you give another thought to helping me with the pastry shop? You can’t imagine how amazing it would be to have you critic my pastries." Lydia offered for the hundredth time.

Neveah was quiet for a moment, in these past days, both Lydia and Trevin had tried repeatedly to scout Neveah to help with their own businesses.

They had tried all manner of methods to convince Neveah too and had offered so many times...yet not once had they asked Neveah for her true identity or where she came from.

Neveah was not certain if it was because they were scared to bring it up or they simply did not care to know.

It was difficult for Neveah to comprehend harboring a stranger she knew nothing about like Lydia and Trevin were doing.

"You know Lydia, I’ve been meaning to ask... don’t you want to know anything about me? How I ended up at the shores? Or who I am and where I come from?"

"You know clearly that I’m not human, yet you have not asked to know what race I am exactly...do you not worry I will bring danger to your family?" Neveah asked seriously.

Lydia paused for a moment, passing a glance over to Neveah before she smiled slightly.

"I worry...it would be odd if I didn’t." Lydia admitted.

"Then why?" Neveah asked with a raised brow.

"Would you tell me if I asked? Who you are? Where you come from? Would you tell me?" Lydia asked back.

Lydia’s question left Neveah in silence, she had no intentions of revealing her identity to anyone ever again.

"You see? You are not ready to speak of it and so I have chosen to trust you will speak of it when you are ready." Lydia said with a shrug.

"And to be honest...a dear friend has asked me to watch over you." Lydia added with a smile.

Neveah raised a brow but Lydia turned away, clearly having no intentions of explaining further and Neveah did not feel like prying.

For whatever reason Trevin and Lydia saved and cared for her these past ten days, Neveah was grateful regardless.

"Go check on Ro, would you? The lad is never so quiet unless he is up to some mischief." Lydia said to Neveah.

Neveah nodded as she left the kitchen, heading back to where she had left Roman.