Although the man had said, "I don't bite," what Maxwell heard in his head was the exact opposite: 'I bite, but only if your blood is sweet enough.' It wasn't what the man had said, but something his brain had formulated out of the terrifying idea of the man it had already built.
"Now I just feel insulted, lad. Why would you say such a thing about a weak, aging old man?" The man laughed, not looking the least bit insulted.
Though he had suspected it before, Maxwell could now practically confirm that the seemingly harmless, friendly old man in front of him was reading his thoughts with ease. Damn. I can't even think alone. Even my own mind isn't safe anymore.
"But it's not that simple, though," the old man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose where his glasses rested.
What the? Were those glasses always on his face? Maxwell didn't remember seeing any glasses on the old man when he entered the room.
The old man gave Maxwell's shoulder a firm clap, a half-smile creasing his weathered face. "As a matter of fact, they were always there. You just didn't notice. Try to pay more attention to your surroundings, lad. It's good to be observant."
Maxwell's breath caught, his heart pounding. They were sitting across from the old man, separated by a large table. How could he touch Maxwell's shoulder without straining his arm, standing, or showing any sign that he was crossing such a distance?
"Ahh, forgive my manners," the old man suddenly blurted out. "I didn't even offer my honoured guests anything to drink."
Honoured guests?
Before Maxwell could process it, two steaming cups of tea and a bowl of cookies were already on the table, one cup in front of him, the other in front of Nova, with the bowl between them.
Maxwell looked at Nova, unsure how to react. "Th-thank you so much," he stammered, disbelief and awe written all over his face. The sheer absurdity of the old man's powers was too much for his young life to comprehend. From casually appearing in every single room they opened, to making them sit in chairs that hadn't been there when they entered, to offering tea and cookies that also came out of nowhere. Heck, he was even constantly reading their minds!
"Sorry, but it's been so long since I interacted with human children that I've forgotten what you young ones like," the man said, shaking his head in apology.
"No problem," Maxwell managed, scratching the back of his neck. "Your gracious hospitality is already too much. We don't want to impose on you any more than this." Maxwell had not missed the "human children" the old man had said earlier, but he didn't dwell on it. The man could read minds, so it was better not to think about it at all.
"Ahh, thanks. I feel honoured to hear that." The old man clasped his hands, then turned his attention to Nova.
Nova shivered, her heart pounding in her chest. What does he want now? I've been trying to make myself as small as possible. Please, just look somewhere else!she cried inwardly.
Maxwell, meanwhile, let out a breath of relief, the corner of his eye catching Nova's exaggerated reaction. At least the terrifying old man's attention wasn't on him.
"Terrifying old man? That's a strong word to use," the old man exhaled, his weathered hand tapping the table. "But alas, I can't really deny the title. I used to have a nickname, 'the Terrifying Whisper.' But with these feeble bones and weathered hands," he said, gesturing at his shaking hands, "all I can do now are simple party tricks, like making a party hat appear on your head or a white bunny appear in your lap."
As if to prove his point, he gestured at the party hat now perched on Maxwell's head, then at the white bunny sitting in each of their laps. "It's only simple tricks like these that I can still pull off at my age." He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. The bunnies and the party hat vanished at once.
Maxwell closed his eyes. He was awed by the old man's power but not shocked; he had already seen the man do many crazy things, so this little "party trick," as the old man called it, wasn't very shocking. When he opened them, he stared at his clenched fist, a scary, dark thought surfacing in his mind. If this old man so wished it, he could make me disappear like that bunny and party hat, couldn't he?
Maxwell shook his head, trying to shake the thought out of his mind. It didn't work. He tried thinking of other things to make it disappear, but still nothing. The thought just kept spiralling out of control, growing darker and darker, until it became like a dark tree in the vast space of his mind, the only thing that refused to disappear.
Maxwell's eyes darted from side to side. He bit down on his tongue, trying to use the pain to steady his mind.
Nova, beside him, had already noticed that something was wrong with Maxwell, but she kept quiet, afraid to anger the old man in front of them.
As Maxwell continued to battle, he suddenly felt the old man's gaze on him. The old man stared at him, one brow arching.
"What's wrong, lad? Are you having a nasty thought that refuses to disappear?"
"Yes," Maxwell answered truthfully.
"Don't worry, it will disappear soon enough," the old man assured him with a kind smile.
"Now, back to business." The old man turned to face Nova. "From what I hear, you had an encounter with that ugly-faced Venos a few days back. True?"
Nova thought back to those days. The only entity they had met here with real personality and sentience was the worm-like primordial that had spared them. Aside from that, there had been the bull and other Neovano creatures, but Nova did not believe such creatures were worth mentioning to an entity like the one before them.
"If you're talking about the primordial, then yes, we met him a few days back, but he spared us." Nova shivered; just remembering the encounter was enough to make her chest tighten again.
"Hoho, spared you?" The old man chuckled with mirth, clutching his stomach as he wheezed. "Ahem, sorry about that. It was really funny to hear. Venos is such a funny character. Though he might not look it, he is actually calm and kind. And very considerate."
Calm and kind!? Nova thought in alarm. That entity we saw can be considered calm and kind?
Clearly reading her thoughts, the old man laughed. "Unlike the way you humans portray them, Neovano creatures are more than just savage beasts who kill every life they meet that isn't their own," he said with a smile.
"No, they are way more than just that," he repeated. "Unlike what you humans teach your young, and what that idiot of a voice who introduced humans to this world tells you, Neovano creatures are more than that. And Venos is a very special case, much like myself."