[Ridge]
"Just hear me out-" I start.
"What the fuck, Ridge?" He cuts me off, "I'm gone for two days and you bring home some kind of mercenary, bandit looking guy?"
He doesn't actually sound upset, he's giving more 'why am I even surprised anymore' vibes. He starts pacing the room, and running his hands through his dark hair repeatedly. Tellur and the new guy left the room so we could talk, but I'm kind of nervous about giving two strangers free roam of the cabin. For the entire past two days that Tellur has stayed here with me I've made sure to keep him under careful supervision. Now suddenly we have, not one, but two randos exploring our sanctuary.
"He's not a mercenary, he's a Knight!" I say excitedly, trying to stop his annoying pacing.
He does pause for a moment, just long enough to look at me like I've gone mad, "How do you even know that?" This is sounding a little like an interrogation if you ask me, and I don't appreciate that. At least the mood is still fairly light hearted.
I fiddle with the hem of my shirt, "Well, he uh, he told me." His eyes go wide and he throws his hands up in exasperation.
"No, listen-" I try to defend myself.
"Since when has the great Sir Ridge Riddotha taken a stranger's words at face value?" He whines, "Huh? You don't do that, Ridge! You can't!"
"I know, but if he's telling the truth we have the chance to do something great here!" I push on.
"Great? I'm not trying to save the world here," He makes a frustrated sound with the back of his throat, "I'm trying to save you."
I fall back onto a soft, leather armchair on the reception side of the desk and let out a long sigh to match. We're both tired, and honestly neither of us know how to handle this situation. It's late, and if I hadn't had to wait up for Kadeeth I would've gone to bed a long time ago.
"I know, I know." He sits across from me, in his father's chair, "So did you get it, the um, doctor" I drag out.
He subconsciously messes with the antlers tacked onto his chair. His gloved fingers draw mesmerizing circles around the smooth horns. My half lidded eyes follow the motion with mild interest, almost hypnotically.
"Yeah, I got the doctor." He shrugs in avoidance.
I raise an eyebrow, "Are you sure?" He shrugs again, "How are you not sure if you brought a doctor or not?" I ask with genuine curiosity.
He glances at me and starts chewing on his fingernails, rolling his eyes at the disbelief plastered on my face. Now that's a habit I haven't seen in a while. That's what he used to do when he'd done or said something dumb and gotten caught. It was a more dominant practice during his rebellious phase, back before the Duke chose him as his successor.
"He's a doctor's apprentice. Or at least he was." He confesses.
I stare at him for a moment before standing up abruptly. I lean across the desk, knocking over a sealed jar of ink, and smack his hand away from his mouth. He looks at me like I just kicked his puppy into the next Imperial reign.
"You brought back a sorta-kinda apprentice doctor," I smile at him, he flinches, "you can't afford to damage your nails." I get up to leave the room, I need to sleep on the idea of letting an ex-apprentice treat me. I'm stopped by a full-on side tackle before I even make it five steps. I let out a small, manly shriek as the air leaves my lungs, but I can hear Kadeeth's evil laughter as releases me and rolls onto his back.
"You. Fucking. Asshole." I gasp out between labored breaths, "What was that for?"
He keeps giggling, "Well I can't let you win." He turns his head to grin at me from his position next to me on the floor.
"Too late. I won as soon as you decided that bringing an unlicensed, untrained medical physician with you was a good idea." I shoot my elbow out into his side. He curls up in the fetal position, but he's still laughing.
"Let's call it a draw then. We both fucked up." He groans and rubs his ribs, "I brought a pseudo doctor, and you found the long lost cousin of the northern Viking clan."
I try to elbow him again for that remark, but he's ready this time and catches my wrist. His gloved hand can wrap all the way around my wrist and overlap his own fingers. If we had swapped places at birth, he would've been the ultimate Knight. The man is a natural built athlete, and a prodigy at Swordsmanship.
Unfortunately for him, the Duke needs an Heir, and Kadeeth proved himself worthy, even if by accident, after he grew out of his teenage years. So he ended up stuck with a fiance he ignores, and a duty he has no desire to fulfill. I know he felt trapped in that house. Maybe that's why he always snuck out to see me at the Academy. That very discomfort, that need for something more than what you have, is what's gonna help me convince him to join this war.
I'm not thinking of that right now though. I'm thinking about how the light from the luxurious oil lamp he lit hits his face, and illuminates that irritating smile. This is the kind of warm moment that reminds me of all those hours we spent doing random nostalgic shit as kids. Like building our own balcony on the side of a literal mansion.
That crazy kid stuff that you look back at when things are good and think, 'wow, look at everything that's changed'. I definitely see a lot of changes, but only in our experience. Our surroundings.
We're the same. Just two mischievous kids laughing, having fun while the rest of the world is quiet in the darkness.