Nochlev ignored the young charr drawing the water for his bath. Like most things in the Black Citadel, it operated on machinery rather than magic. Nochlev wasn't an engineer: further, he was too tired to care how it worked, only that it would draw hot water for him to soak in before dinner. He could smell the heady scent of honeysuckle which came from the petals the lad had added at Nochlev's request.
A small squeak from the cub caught his attention and Nochlev turned to see the small charr staring at him. Rather, the boy had been staring at his back. Nochlev smiled crookedly. "Quite the scar, isn't it?" he said conversationally to the young creature.
"It-" The cub caught himself and hastily bowed, "Milord, Lord Nochlev, it looks like, a, uh . . . charr claw rake, about five years old."
"Very perceptive. Are you training to be a medic?" Nochlev asked, taking another look at the lad. He was a pale golden color with white points. With the white blaze that started on the boy's chin and ran down the underside of his neck, Nochlev was reminded of one of the stable kittens he'd seen when last home.
"No, milord." The cub relaxed since Nochlev hadn't taken offense at his words or for daring to speak to him.
"Shame. You seem to have an eye for it." Nochlev stripped off his small clothes and sank into the water. The hot penetrated his sore muscles immediately and the human noble sighed through his nose with pleasure.
Even with his eyes closed, he sensed the young charr still lingered. When he opened his green eyes, the cub was still there, looking awkward. Smiling, the noble sat up and looped his arm over the edge of the tub. "You want to know how I got it." Nochlev stated with a carefully wry tone, not wanting to scare the boy.
The charr perked up just like a human child would, and Nochlev realized that was why he was humoring the boy. Mother would have a screaming fit if she saw this scene. He even sounded like a human child when he squeaked, "Please, milord!"
"When I was fifteen years old, my father started to take me with him on his travels." Nochlev settled back into the water with a splash, redoubling the smell of honeysuckle around him. "I am to take the family business, so I had to learn it. Our third trip was to the Black Citadel to secure Ascalonian artifacts. Krytan nobles with Ascalonian heritage enjoy buying them for displays of wealth and heritage.
"My father allowed me to close the negations." Nochlev smiled at the memory: his pride that his father had entrusted him to speak for the family, not realizing that the deal had already been finalized and this meeting was to sign the official contracts. "My father had pre-brokered the deal, so it was easy to close, the kind of task you give a young man early in training. I didn't comprehend that, so thought I'd walked into a room and settled matters in mere minutes. I thought I had a gift for negotiation with the charr."
The young charr was riveted, leaning forward in his toes, his claws sinking into the grating of the floor. Even his tail was still, held in a slight upward arc. Charr spoke with their tails and that position told of the lad's interest.
"Later, I went for a walk in the city. It was safe enough; I had an escort, two charr assigned to us by the Black Citadel and three of my father's guards." Nochlev closed his eyes again, moving his fingers so that the hot water swirled over his sore thighs. Too much climbing and not enough walking and resting. He'd go a little easier tomorrow when exploring the ruins tomorrow.
"I heard raised voices from a bar and went inside, against my escort's advice, to see what was happening." Nochlev chuckled at the charr's soft gasp. "Three groups were standing around arguing about which Legion was stronger. Being a master at charr psychology, I naturally attempted to intercede and cool the heated tempers."
The boy had his hands pressed to his muzzle, his tail curling around his body to cover his hands. Over that adorably silly pose, red eyes peered at him with mixed horror and curiosity. When Nochlev paused, drawing out the cub's tension, the little one blurted, "Then what!"
"I started a brawl naturally. One of the charr I unwittingly insulted lifted a chair and tried to split my skull with it. My guards didn't allow that, of course. They were badly outnumbered and one of my charr escorts grabbed me around the waist and carried me out like a child." Nochlev elected to leave out the creative - to a fifteen year old boy - curses he'd flung at his protector for doing that. "We almost made it but one of the brawlers, a large fellow with a pelt as black as tar and eyes of enraged amber leapt nearly twenty feet and knocked my escort down.
"I got up first and got out my knife, which was all it took for my midnight-colored friend to change from fists to claws." Nochlev remembered not being afraid even then. I really was an arrogant twat at that age. "He pounced on me like a cat on a mouse and wrapped an arm about me. He ripped the claws of that hand across my back. It hurt like the blazes."
"I heard that human skin is much more sensitive than charr." The cub forgot himself for a moment, dropping the title, and Nochlev let it go.
"I wouldn't know." He shifted in the tub again. "My escort trounced him immediately of course but the damage had been done, both to relations between my father and his business associates and to my back. Once I was healed enough to think again, my father and I had a long conversation."
The cub had lowered his hands. "Was he mad? Milord?"
"At first but he turned it into a learning experience, as he did most things." Nochlev smiled at the cub. "Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
"Oh, yes, thank you, Lord Nochlev!" The cub stood straight but didn't salute, which was normal.
"By the by, what is your name?" Nochlev asked, tilting his head.
The cub had started to relax but snapped to the position of respect once more. "Taanika, milord."
Nochlev frowned. "Taanika? If I may make a comment, and mean no offense, that seems a soft name for a charr lad."
"I'm not a boy, milord!" Taanika giggled and suddenly Nochlev realized that what he'd taken for a slim male was actually a female. His face burned as the blood rushed to his face: he'd stripped naked in front of a female child.
Silently cursing the charr custom of dressing the same regardless of gender, Nochlev said, "That will be all for now, Taanika, thank you."
As the cub walked out of the room, Nochlev sank deeper into his bathwater and vowed to have a conversation with the charr cultural attache about human gender norms. I wonder how many people have been helped by a charr young of the opposite gender and never knew? I wonder if any did know.
He only knew one thing: this was one story of his adventures that he wasn't going to share with anyone else.