[Ridge]
"So, you were an apprentice?" I'm sitting on the arm of the sofa in the den. Kadeeth is next to me, spread across the entire couch, and our two potential new friends are sprawled out on the fur rug in front of the empty fireplace.
"Yeah." The new guy huffs. Kadeeth throws the ball of yarn he's tossing around at him.
"Show some respect, he's a Knight." He scolds. The new guy's face heats up in anger. Is his temper somehow more volatile than Kadeeth's? That would be impressive.
"Look, I don't have to be here, man. Maybe you should show ME some respect." He chucks the yarn ball back. I dart my hand out and catch it inches from Kadeeth's taunting smirk. Yarn is expensive. I'm not letting a perfectly good roll get ruined by a spoiled brat and some moody kid.
Now that I have their attention, I continue hounding the doctor, "Then why are you here, if you so clearly would rather be anywhere else?"
"This jerk offered to pay me." He jerks his thumb at Kadeeth's lounging form.
"And you took his word for it, and followed him through the woods for two days to a discreet location where he had backup waiting?" I summarize monotonously, "You're worse than me..."
His face grows even redder. I let out a breathy laugh and this the yarn at him myself. This kids a moron, but at least he's entertaining.
I keep calling him a kid, but he's probably around my age, which means he's an adult. His dark hair is cut down short in a crew cut to shape his head. A thin, silver chain is draped across his throat, shining in the candle light. He's a handsome guy, but his personality overshadows his initially attractive appearance.
"You're not any better! Who lets a squatter live in their house?" He argues, like he just dealt the final blow in an epic debate.
"He's the idiot for accepting the invitation." I shrug. Tellur looks up from where he's practicing writing Nymourian curse words on a piece of parchment with one hand, while nursing a bottle of wine in the other. He squints confusedly.
"Why?" Comes his cautious question.
"Well, now you owe me." I smile and Kadeeth breaks out into annoying laughter, "But we can get into that later."
I turn away from Tellur's slack-jawed expression and fall dramatically off of the arm of the sofa onto Kadeeth. He cringes and squirms his way out from under me, falling off the couch in the process. I take his place laying across the cushions and prop my injured foot up onto the arm I was previously sitting on.
"Currently, we have bigger problems." I smile at the young doctor as he dodges out of the way of a falling Kadeeth.
He throws a tantrum, standing up to avoid Kadeeth purposely trying to roll over him, "You seem fine to me!" He jumps over Kade attempting to sweep his feet. Tellur laughs and sits back on his hands to enjoy the show.
"Do you want treated or not?!" He sulks.
Kadeeth stops tormenting the poor guy and lets him step over him to examine me. I can tell he was tempted to step on the troublemaker on his way over, but somehow the little sprite resisted the urge. I don't think I could've done that. I'd have stomped his face in.
"So, how bad is it, Doc?" He scowls at the nickname, and the sarcasm. Then his defensive eyes turn shockingly steady and he starts turning my foot around in his hands to observe the damage.
The skin on the top of my foot is a sickening swirl of blue and yellow bruises. Smaller bright purple spots decorate the more sensitive parts of the ankle, like the sides and where the bone is. It aches everytime he presses into it. There's no area of concentrated pain, the entire foot feels like it'd rather snap off than be let him keep touching it.
Walking wasn't even this painful, at least then there was a distribution of pressure. This guy's just poking and prodding wherever he pleases. It reminds me of the market, where craftsmen and women mold clay around in their hands to force it into the shape they desire.
He presses into my heel and I hiss loudly, grabbing at his arm out of reflex. Within an instant Kadeeth is off of the ground and by my side, pulling the doctor away from me. The tension freezes the air in the room to the point that the only thing moving is me as I clutch my aching foot.
I put a hand out in the space between the doctor and Kadeeth, trying to deescalate the situation. We were doing fine with keeping things light hearted before. There's no need to feed the agitation that's entered the room.
Tellur is sitting straight-backed on the floor, looking uncertainly at the small standoff between Kadeeth and the new guy. The doctor keeps looking from Kadeeth to me, trying to figure out why my self -proclaimed protector is having a freak attack. He doesn't move his head, as if that might set off the wound-up animal posed to pounce in front of him. Instead, only his eyes give any indication that he's observing us.
I used my outstretched hand to push Kadeeth back some. He pivots his body to look at me. When he realizes I'm not actually injured the mood gets awkward. Wonderful. Thanks to my dramatics, the dynamic is unpleasant now. I mean it's not really my fault, he definitely overreacted, but I get it. We've been pretty unguarded against these guys so far, but they are still essentially strangers.
I hold onto his wrist and try to pull him back more, so he doesn't look like a dog getting in the middle of his master and a threat. Then I attempt a small smile and strained laugh.
"I'm fine, just pressed on a bad spot." I reassure everyone, "I'm good, so let's continue. Yeah?" Tellur clears his throat and goes back to writing Nymourian. When neither of the two dogs move I tug on Kadeeth's wrist a bit.
He glimpses at me disapprovingly, "Yeah. All good here." He doesn't move away though, choosing to take a seat on the ground where he was standing instead. The doctor hesitantly approaches me again.
This is gonna be a long day.