Yanderes in Cottage Country

Yana’s stomach growled as she dropped four pieces of bread into the toaster. She quite liked this toaster thing. She heard footsteps walking down the hall, and she was surprised when Morgan followed Cody into the kitchen for breakfast. Yana often bumped into Cody a few times in the morning, but he was always on his own. After making his food he would go back to his room and eat with Morgan. Yana had been following Cody’s lead, making meals in the kitchen but eating with Nyrah in their room. Yana quickly finished making her toast. She turned to leave, keeping her head down, but Morgan spoke up.

“You can eat at the kitchen table, if you want,” Morgan said.

Yana looked up at her. It was the first time she’d been in Morgan’s presence since…since the incident. Yana wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel. Anger, because Morgan stabbed her best friend? Guilt, because she should have known Nyrah was going to attempt to hurt Morgan? Relief and gratitude, because Morgan was being gracious and allowing both her and Nyrah to continue living in Cody’s cottage?

Yana remembered the way Cody assured her the fight between Nyrah and Morgan wasn’t her fault, but she couldn’t help feeling guilty, now that she was looking right at Morgan. Yana also remembered the hug Cody had given her and the way it felt to be held in his arms. It was safe. And warm. And she was beginning to see why both Morgan and Nyrah loved Cody so much. He might still be in denial about having a Heart of Gold, but Yana didn’t need to be a Heartseer to know that it was true. And…it was a very attractive quality.

Yana quickly looked away from Morgan. She didn’t want her to know how many feelings just flew through her mind and how quickly they landed on romantic thoughts about the other woman’s boyfriend.

“No, it’s okay,” Yana said. “I will eat in my room with Nyrah. She’s waiting for me.”

Yana glanced at Cody, who gave her a reassuring smile, before she rushed back to her room. Yana shared a piece of crust with Nyrah, since nekofae needed very little to survive on, and then she ate the rest of the toast on her own. Nyrah had been quiet lately, which was understandable. Yana wasn’t sure how often she was being quiet and contemplative, or quiet because she was talking to the knife that now lived inside her head. Yana pushed down the jealous feeling that popped up every time she thought about that knife and how connected he was to Nyrah.

He’s not going to replace you, Yana told herself. Nyrah will always be your friend. Your best friend.

Yana got dressed and slipped out to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She loved the minty Earth stuff called toothpaste and how easy it was to make her teeth feel clean. When she came out, Morgan was waiting for her turn. Yana was surprised Morgan was dressed, wearing her black uniform shirt with the red embroidered Food Mart logo on it.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize you were waiting,” Yana said quickly.

“It’s fine. I have time,” Morgan said.

Cody obviously heard them talking and stepped out into the hall. “Everything okay?”

“Yes,” Morgan said, giving him a smile. But then she turned back to Yana: “Everything’s fine. Right?”

Yana knew she was asking about more than just their current conversation. “If you’re fine, then I’m…also fine.”

“Good.” Morgan brushed past her into the bathroom and shut the door.

“Right. So. I’m going to walk with Morgan to work, and then I have some stuff to do around town,” Cody said. “You and Nyrah will be okay on your own? I can trust you?”

“You can trust us,” Yana said, but another day spent locked in a room with Nyrah was beginning to feel suffocating. It wasn’t so much Nyrah, but being locked in the room while sunlight filtered in through the blinds and she could hear birds singing outside. They went from being locked in the apartment above the shop to being stuck in the guest bedroom of Cody’s cottage, and Yana was beginning to feel trapped. “Could I come with you? Into town?”

Cody looked over at the guestroom door. “What about Nyrah? Is she coming, too?”

“Um…” Yana said, also looking at the door. “Is she allowed to come?”

“What do you think? Is she ready?”

“Maybe?” Yana said, but then had an idea. “This, us getting along, it’s exactly what Temica doesn’t want, yes?”

Cody studied her a moment before saying, “Yes. She’s waiting for more drama and mayhem. She said as much at Gracie’s party.”

“She was at the birthday party you went to?”

“Unfortunately. But you’re right. As long as we get along, Temica will be epically bored and hungry. Maybe she’ll even leave.”

“And if not, in the meantime, we can work on finishing the game,” Yana suggested. “Together.”

Cody nodded slowly. “That definitely sounds like the kind of thing she’d hate.” But he glanced at the guestroom door again. “You think that’s possible?”

Morgan stepped out of the bathroom and looked between them. “What’s possible? I think I overheard most of that, but may have missed some while brushing my teeth.”

“We’re going to try to bore Temica to death,” Cody said.

Morgan walked over to Cody and he settled his arm around her waist. “I’m okay with Yana coming along, but I’m not ready for…” She glanced at the guestroom door before looking back to Cody.

“Okay,” Cody said, giving Morgan a squeeze. “That seems fair.” He looked at Yana: “You okay with this?”

“Yes. I’ll let Nyrah know.”

Yana slipped back into the guestroom, where Nyrah was still lying in bed.

“You’re going into town with Cody?” she asked.

Yana wasn’t surprised Nyrah had heard, especially with her exceptional nekofae hearing.

“Is that okay with you?” Yana asked.

Nyrah smiled sleepily. “Yes. It’ll be good for you to spend some time with Cody.”

Yana went to sit on the edge of the bed. “I'd rather have both of us spend time with him.”

“I know.” Nyrah sat up behind Yana and pulled off the hair elastic that had been holding her friend's ponytail together. It was yet another marvelous Earth invention. It was much easier to use and more secure than using a bit of ribbon or leather cord.

Nyrah finger-combed Yana’s shoulder-length white hair before she began to work the strands into a woven braid. “Do you like Cody, Yana?”

Yana felt that now-familiar feeling in her lower belly, the swoopy one she got whenever she started thinking about Cody. It was the same feeling that happened every time he announced he received a new Friendship Level for her.

“Yes, I think I like Cody,” Yana said.

“That’s good. I want you to be happy, too.”

“I would be happy if we stayed here,” Yana said. Nyrah finished off the braid and Yana turned to face her friend. “Do you think we’ll be allowed to stay here? Forever?”

“We’re going to marry Cody, so yes.”

Yana huffed. “We don’t know that. He loves Morgan.”

Nyrah patted Yana’s shoulder. “Then we just have to make sure he loves us, too. Work on that today, okay?”

That happy, swoopy feeling in Yana’s belly turned into the heavy, anxious feeling of uncertainty. Yana had spent her entire adult life as a priestess with a vow of chastity. She had no idea how to fall in love. Or have someone fall in love with her.

“I don’t—” Yana began to say, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Ready to go?” Cody called.

“Yes!” Yana jumped to her feet. She looked down at Nyrah, who was yawning, wearing her wrinkled pink pajamas with a head of messy brown hair. “Be good. Promise me.”

“I’ll be good,” Nyrah said. “I promise. I think I’m going to take a nap.”

Yana refrained from pointing out she had just woken up and headed out the door.

* * *

Yana trailed just behind Cody and Morgan as they walked to town, with Cody and Morgan holding hands the whole time. Yana felt like she didn’t quite belong, but kept reminding herself that she had been invited. She fiddled with her pink gemstone necklace, happy that it still worked as a glamor enchantment, even though they had left Temica.

Once they dropped off Morgan at the Food Mart, Cody walked up to Yana and gave her a nod. “So, I need to go see Marigold at the pet shop first, hopefully she has her library books with her.”

“Library books?” Yana asked.

“For my Friendship Levels,” Cody said. As they walked down Main Street, Cody went through a rundown of which Residents he had to level up, the ones he had completed, and the ones he was still working on.

“Is it safe to assume Doug will be difficult?” Yana asked.

“Definitely. It’s a miracle I even have one level with him, and that was all Morgan.”

Yana noticed a flash of white and looked up to see Henry the chicken. He had just landed on the edge of the roof of the nearest shop. He was looking down at Yana with those creepy pink eyes. She stopped short and met his stare, not willing to back down from the foul beast.

Cody didn’t notice she had stopped walking until he was a couple steps ahead. Yana could see him in her peripheral vision as he stopped, and then walked back over to her.

“I hate that chicken,” Yana seethed. She almost hated him more than Temica. Almost. He was just so still most of the time, but always had a way of looking at her as if he was judging her and finding her lacking. The thought of being judged by a strange chicken was insulting. If anything, he was the one lacking. No chicken should be that tall. And with wings like that. She’d never even seen a chicken fly until she met this one.

“Yeah, I hate that parrot,” Cody said. “Haven’t seen him around without Temica. What do you think he’s doing?”

“Nothing good.” Yana purposely ignored the word ‘parrot’, because Cody was clearly confused. “He is a chicken of ill omen.”

“Sure feels that way,” Cody said. “Try to ignore him, okay? I’ve got stuff to do.”

“We can continue, but I’ll be on the lookout.” She stretched her fingers, feeling her [Life-Force] crackle and spark.

“None of that,” Cody warned under his breath. “C’mon.”

Yana frowned, but curled her hands into fists and let her [Life-Force] go dormant once more. As they walked away, Henry remained on his rooftop perch. Yana didn’t like turning her back on such a nefarious beast, but she didn’t want to slow down Cody as he tried to level up the townsfolk on his list.

They arrived at the pet shop and Cody opened the door, ushering Yana in ahead of him. A young blonde woman was at the front counter. She did a little wave when she saw Cody, and then ducked down, disappearing behind the counter. When she popped back up, she was holding a stack of three hardcover books.

“H-here you go.” She placed the books on the counter and pushed them towards Cody as he walked over.

“Thanks.” Cody picked up the books, tucking them under his arm. “Marigold, this is my uh…friend from out of town, Yana. Yana, this is Marigold, manager of Cornerstone Critters.”

“H-hello,” Marigold said.

Yana smiled and nodded to the girl, even as she felt a tiny bit of jealousy creep into her heart. It was different from how she felt about Morgan. Morgan was already part of Cody’s life and Yana knew she’d need to accept that. But Yana didn’t like watching Cody talk to another young woman, especially a pretty one, like Marigold, even if he didn’t seem remotely interested in her.

“Well,” Cody said, “I still don’t have a pet, so I guess this is all for today.”

“Um…okay, bye,” Marigold said.

They head back out, and Yana looked at Cody expectantly.

“What?” he asked.

“Did you earn a Friendship Level with her?”

“No. I still haven’t figured her out. She might be even more difficult than Doug.”

They made their way to the library, where Cody returned the books to the librarian, and once again Cody introduced Yana as his ‘friend from out of town’. Cody gave no indication that he received a level up for returning Marigold’s books. Yana assumed he wouldn’t in front of someone like Lexi, who had no idea what was happening.

“Any more stray books you want me to pick up?” Cody asked Lexi the librarian.

“Bob has an overdue paperback,” Lexi said. “You could pick that up, if you’d like. I have no idea why you enjoy doing this, you weirdo, but I’m also totally cool with it.”

Cody slapped the counter and grinned at Lexi. “We’re on it!”

Lexi laughed and shook her head. And Yana felt that spike of jealousy again. Why did every woman in Cornerstone have to be attractive? It wasn’t fair.

Yana tucked those feelings away and did her best to compose herself as they left the library. She walked at Cody’s side as he led the way to Bob’s Bait and Tackle.

“Did you earn a Friendship Level with Lexi?” Yana asked.

“Yep. That brings me to two out of five for her.”

“That is good,” Yana said, and scanned the rooftops for the stupid chicken. He was nowhere in sight.

“Hopefully Bob brings his reading material to work, eh?” Cody looked over at Yana and gave her a smile. It was the same sort of smile he gave nearly everyone, but this time it was directed at her. He made eye contact and everything. Yana felt that familiar tingly sensation in her stomach, but this time it spread through her entire body, all the way down to her toes. She made an embarrassing little noise, something between a gasp and a whimper, and Cody stopped short. At first, she thought he was going to comment on the weird and embarrassing sound she had just made.

“Hey,” he said. “I just got a notification that you earned a new Friendship Level. That puts you at three out of five. I didn’t exactly say something funny though…”

As he trailed off, his dark brown eyes lingered on her face. Yana looked away and immediately felt her cheeks heat up, which only made her more flustered.

“Anyway, almost there!” Cody announced and took off walking again, as if he was just as eager as she was to escape the moment.

Yana was relieved when she saw that this shop-owning Resident was an older man with a bushy mustache, instead of a young, good-looking woman. The man greeted Cody jovially, and once again Cody introduced Yana.

“Lexi tells me you have an overdue library book,” Cody said, getting right down to business.

“Does she now?”

“You happen to have it here? I told her I would return it.”

Bob’s thick eyebrows drew together as he looked Cody over. “I do have it. I read when the shop is slow. But I’ll return it to the library tomorrow. Lexi doesn’t have to send an errand boy out to fetch it.”

“It’s no trouble for me to return it,” Cody said. “But she really wants it back today.”

Bob gave Cody another funny look, but walked over to a folding chair in the corner, just behind the front desk. He picked up the paperback book that was sitting on it.

“You get more like your Grandpa Sam every day, you know that?” Bob said as he handed the book over to Cody.

Cody shrugged. “I don’t think anyone can fill Grandpa Sam’s shoes.”

“No, you’re right. But I see a lot of him in you, son.”

“I’m honored.”

“Well, you need any bait today? Taking your lady-friend fishing?”

Cody laughed. “No, not today. But thanks for the book, Bob.”

“He’s the one you need to catch the fish for?” Yana asked, once they were heading back to the library.

“Yeah, that’s his little quest thing. Maybe we can see if Nyrah feels up to helping out tomorrow?”

“I think she would like that very much.”

They dropped off Bob’s book at the library, and Cody informed Yana that he got another level up with the librarian. He was now at three out of five Friendship Levels with Lexi. As they headed back out into the sunshine, Yana’s stomach growled loudly. She felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment. There was no way Cody didn’t hear it. Why did she need to make so many awkward noises around him today?

“So, are you hungry?” Cody asked. “Do you want to grab some lunch at Frank’s Diner before we head back to the cottage?”

“I’m always hungry,” Yana said, since that was pretty much true. “I think my half-orc heritage burns through food quickly. My Stamina Bar is already drained to thirty percent, so I should probably eat soon.”

“Huh. Wanna see a cool trick?” Cody asked, but then looked thoughtful: “Actually, I’m not sure if it will work for you. But since you’re already connected to a game system and can use my game-oven, I feel like it’s safe to assume it will.”

“What is it?” Yana’s curiosity was piqued.

“We need to find a cat.”

Yana had no idea what Cody was about to show her, but she followed him around until they found a fluffy black cat wandering down Main Street.

“Cornerstone has quite a few outdoor cats, if you keep an eye out for them.” Cody bent down to get closer to the friendly-looking cat. He made little clicking noises and held his hand out. The cat approached and rubbed her face on his hand before rolling onto her side so Cody could rub her belly.

“You like cats,” Yana said. “Nyrah and I used to see you pet cats, when we lived in the apartment above the gift shop.”

Cody looked up from where he was crouching, rubbing the cat’s belly. “You used to watch me petting cats?”

“You did it often,” Yana said, in her defense.

“I don’t exactly consider myself a ‘cat person’, but there’s a game reward if you pet a Cornerstone cat. C’mon. Try it and tell me what happens.”

Dubiously, Yana knelt next to Cody and rubbed the cat’s belly. The cat was purring now, luxuriating in all the attention and belly rubs she was receiving.

“Did it work? Did you get the notification?” Cody asked.

“Um…no?” Yana stood up and the cat let out a pitiful meow, begging for more attention. “What was supposed to happen?”

“Uh…petting a cat restores my Stamina,” Cody explained.

Yana quickly checked her Stamina, but it had not been restored at all. She shook her head as her stomach growled again. “It didn’t work for me. Did I do it wrong?”

“Nah, you did it right. I think it’s just a me thing. You want to get some food now?”

“Yes. I would like to have some lunch.”

Current Inventory Total: 1,201

Friendship Moments: Doris: 5/5, William: 5/5, Gracie: 3/5, Lexi: 3/5, Bob: 1/5,

Nyrah: 4/5, Yana: 3/5, Doug 1/5, Marigold: 0/5

Romance Moments: Morgan: 7/10

Relationship Status: In a Relationship, but…