Closing the door behind him, Bil nonchalantly strolled down the street. He entered the bathhouse and respectfully paid the receptionist before passing to the men's changing room. Keeping only his staff and an offered towel, Bil made his way to the washing station. "Jash, would you please give me a hand?"
Calmly exiting the water, Jash bowed his head to the others present as he joined Bil at the side. As the young man helped Bil find a seat, he quietly asked, "So, how'd it go with the mayor?"
"As you'd expect." Securing his head wrap, Bil let Jash rinse his scarred body with a bucket of water.
"You know.. She knows who we are. From back then..."
Bil nodded. "I know. I knew who she was this morning. Her reaction to seeing me was too obvious."
"Ohh… So you already knew," sighed Jash, unsure how to feel. "Then, what did you talk about?"
Answering with a whisper, Bil replied, "She just wanted to confirm who we were, and was glad to know others survived the attack."
"That's all??" questioned Jash.
But Bil only nodded, getting up. "Yup. Now show me to the bath. These old bones know no better relief than a great bath."
With half a dozen people around them, Jash didn't bother asking more. Instead, Bil chatted and made friends with the others. He even got a few laughs when people asked him about that morning's robbery, jesting with a chuckle that any of the men present could've weeded out those failures for bandits.
Eventually, Jash exited the bathhouse but Bil stayed behind to enjoy the water a little longer.
The moment Jash entered the lobby he smiled as his sister rushed to his side. He asked, "Is something wrong?"
"No. But you were thinking about something too hard. So I came to help," answered Nelphy. "Is Bil still inside?"
"Yeah, you know him…" Jash sighed with a chuckle.
"Wanna wait here? Or did you want to do something else?"
"I'm fine with waiting."
The two siblings sat down, drawing occasional glances from the passersby. Jash commented, "Careful, Nelphy, or the whole town will fall for you."
"So what? You're just mad that my hair is like mom's," jested the young woman, brushing her long, dark blue hair behind her ears.
Shrugging, Jash scoffed, "So what? Then mine must be like dad's! At least I have something to remind me of him."
"I guess…." Nelphy sighed. "Hey.. Jash. What do you think of Bil?"
"What do you mean? He's Bil," answered the young man, leaning back on the bench. "Every time I tried to call him 'Dad', he'd cut me off. He only lets me call him by name, so what else would he be? He doesn't even let me call him 'Uncle'.."
"But what do you think of him? What does he mean to you?"
A bit startled, Jash looked back at Nelphy. "Where did this come from?"
Nelphy shrugged, answering softly, "Well, we rarely get to speak without him around.. So I wanted to ask."
"Then you answer first. What does he mean to you?" questioned Jash.
"He…" It took Nelphy a moment to put her thoughts together. "He's our guardian. And he loves us like a father. He's helped us our entire lives. I wish he'd spoil us more, but he's everything a guardian needs to be and then some.. I love him, like a father."
"Well.. I can get that…" mumbled Jash.
"So, how do you feel about Bil?"
".. I…."
Jash stared up at the ceiling. Then, he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees while staring at the ground. "I.. want to see him as a father… But I don't agree with how he handles things.."
"You still can't get over that?" Nelphy asked with a disappointed sigh. "Hasn't he taught you how to fight? How to control veita?"
"So what? He taught me to hold a sword and meditate. What's so hard about that?" Jash stated. "I could learn better swordsmanship by working as a city guard. Sure, he's really strong. But he only punches and hits hard. He's never once used that sword, after thirteen years..
"I wouldn't be surprised if was just blessed with a strong body and was lucky to survive the war–"
"JASH!"
Nelphy clapped her hands on Jash's cheeks, forcing him to stare directly into her eyes. "How could you?!"
"What??" Lowering the volume of his voice to not attract any more attention, Jash reasoned, "He claims that to help people you need to be strong. But when has he helped anyone apart from us? He's really nice to us, but he's a jerk to everyone else. And if he was a true warrior, then he'd never flee when others needed his help."
"Jash…" Astounded to hear that, Nelphy let go of her brother but kept looking into his eyes. "Do you know what he's gone through? What he's done to protect us?"
"What do you mean? He's only fled from fights. Occasionally he'll punch people, but only when he's guaranteed victory. And then he still flees afterward, like today! …" Jashed almost shouted in passion but controlled his tone. "Do I care for Bil, of course I do! I'm extremely grateful for him. But that doesn't mean I need to idolize him and do as he does, or that I need to respect how he handles things.. I want to be an actual warrior. Someone like the conqueror."
Finally looking away from Jash, Nelphy sighed, "You… you're not wrong, I guess. But we don't know what he's gone through, or why he does things that way."
"Because he refuses to explain himself," interjected Jash. "No matter what happens, he just moves along through life without explaining his actions, only giving the excuse that everything is for us.."
"Maybe everything he does is for us?" stated Nelphy.
Jash shrugged and leaned back again. "So what? I just hope he actually keeps his promise this time about Frantoch.. I'm tired of constantly moving. I want to learn how to fight."
"But Bil's always been teaching–"
"That's not fighting. It's me swinging a sword while he always evades or hits me. And his meditation training hasn't taught me anything…"
Chuckling with a sarcastic tone, Nelphy added, "Yet you do the training anyway."
"Cause it's better than nothing," argued Jash. "But training as a city guard will actually teach me, it will actually show me how to get stronger!"
"Oh, there you two are!"