"Every time I hear something about a bar fight in Polis, I can expect you to be hiding in my apartment."

Jaeger has absconded with the bed, watching in intrigue as his master administers another dab of iodine-soaked cloth to the conman's bleeding brow. Bourbon draws a sharp breath at it, wincing the opposing eye.

"Oi! That stings!"

She snorts at him. "Proper retribution for breaking Nikolai's nose when he tried to break it up."

"I said I was sorry, alright? I didn't even know I hit him!"

The cloth is pulled away, a scrutiny of the wound given before she begins on a few other minor cuts on his chin. "You're lucky you won't be needing stitches, you know. The hell happened out there, hm?"

"What is there to tell? It was sort of a usual thing that happened." The steely silence and icy stare as she pushes the cloth mercilessly against his torn skin is enough to loosen his tongue more on the details. "Ow! Okay! Someone said I owed them money, and you know me! I get personal details muddled!"

"Purposely muddled, I'm sure."

"Anyway. So I told them to get lost because I didn't remember them and the next thing I know, I'm on the floor fighting back. Apparently, it roused the whole bar into it and I might have hit the barkeep…"

"Nikolai."

"Yeah, him. You know, making someone with a possible concussion remember things is cruel and unusual punishment. What do they teach you in that Ranger training, eh?"

A sly smile crosses her face at it as she hands him a cool brick wrapped in a stained rag for his shined eye. "How to torture concussed conmen into spilling the beans. You're going back in the morning to apologize to Nikolai."

"I knew it…" He holds the makeshift compress before giving her an exaggerated pout. It's more comical to her now with his face banged up. "What if I just skipped town, per se, and let it all blow over that way."

"Do that and I'll personally send Jaeger after you with an iodine bomb." The Shepherdish perks his outlandish ears at the sound of his name, Bourbon watches the dog warily before huffing and flopping back in the ratted old chair.

"Fine. You win. But I'm stealing the bed tonight."

"That's fine. Oops recommended me a new book, so I'll be reading that instead."

"If I didn't know better, I would say you and that Librarian were starting a book club."

She shrugs, getting ready to head off to the teahouse for a new batch with the dog jumping off the cot and at her heels. "And why not. They keep much better, not to mention more intelligent, company."

"Oh." It takes a moment for his banged up brain to register the insult she has just dealt him. "Hey!"


A/N: because they are the best of friends