A Disastrous Situation for All Parties Except Dom's

The morning wind was strong. It blew at ladies' skirts and stole away hats from outraged citizens. The only one who enjoyed it was a small hobo living in the hills surrounding Corus, who loved to stand naked outside his cave and feel the wind blowing in places it would not have otherwise blown in. But that's a completely different story.

It was this same wind that blew through Keladry's window and sent all of her paperwork flying through the air. In a state of panic, she jumped around, snatching at the elusive papers. For a moment, she would make as if to close the window, but then another gust would come through and she had more important things to worry about, like 4 days work flying about the streets of Corus.

She was so caught up in her wild chase that she didn't notice the green eyed man standing in the doorway. A smile spread across his handsome features. He took the room in three strides and shut the window forcefully. This caused the chaos to suddenly end, leaving the poor Lady Knight in mid-leap. Her arms still stretched in the air, she turned her head slowly, bewildered, until she settled on the chuckling man at the window.

"Neal! You're back!" she cried, and picked her way through the mass of loose parchment to give him a hug.

"I see you've everything under control, as usual." he drawled.

"Shut up."

"I have a right to tease you. What possessed you to get Dom to help you with the fan?"

Keladry drew herself up to her full height, on the defensive. "I didn't have a key! And I knew Dom probably did so I went and asked him. Then he insisted on coming along! Without his help I probably couldn't have gotten it on that early supply cart."

"You should have asked my father or somebody. Dom has wasted no time in leaping upon the subject of, ..." Neal swallowed and looked a little embarrassed. "You know...."

Kel smiled. "How you keep Yuki's fan with your undergarments?"

This earned her an outright glare. "Shut up."

"Don't worry, I won't tease you. In public."

"You should've asked my father,"

"Never occurred to me."

"It wouldn't."

"What does that mean?"

"You know perfectly well what that means."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"I can see that we're going to get into a vicious circle here, so I'm going to end this now like a mature adult." Neal said, getting that imperious look he always did when trying to act superior. He set his chin high in the air and inhaled deeply through his nose, waving at her with his hands. "You may continue frolicking about the room, now." He turned on his heel and made for the door. Unfortunately for Neal, holding your chin high in the air severely obscures your vision of the floor, so he did not see the roll of parchment he was about to step on. Kel, of course, being more humble, kept her chin at a reasonable level, saw the scroll perfectly well, and made absolutely no move to warn Neal. So, our hapless friend slipped and fell square on his backside, arms and legs flailing in a very ungentlemanly manner. The fall could have been less pitiable if it were not for the numerous other scrolls sent to the floor from the previous unfortunate incident that made lying there extremely uncomfortable.

"Uh, a little help, here? Heh, heh....."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Fifteen minutes later, a rumpled Neal stumbled out of Kel's door, holding one hand to his eyes and the other to his lower back. Kel followed after him, amused.

"Shall we proceed to the mess strictly designated for severely injured knights?" she chuckled.

"Yes, that's the one."

On the way, Kel almost laughed out loud to see Domitan of Masbolle rounding a corner. When he caught sight of them, an evil grin spread across his features. Neal groaned.

"Well, if it isn't Meathead!"

"I'll have you know, cousin of mine, that my current state is due to saving Kel from a band of rabid giants. She will be eternally grateful, won't you Kel?"

Kel slid her Yamani mask in place. "Oh, yes. I don't know what I would have done if Neal hadn't come to my rescue."

Dom 's grin spread even wider. "What, did he trip on something?"

"A scroll." said Kel.

"Traitor!"

"Oh, come on, Neal! It's all in good fun!" Dom laughed.

"At my expense! It's always at my expense!"

Kel exchanged a glance with Dom. "We're not laughing at you Neal! We're laughing with you."

"Do I look like I'm laughing?"

Dom shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "We know you're laughing on the inside, Meathead." He thumped his chest dramatically.

Kel grabbed Neal's arm and pulled him away. "C'mon, let's go get something to eat, and I promise I won't let Dom hound you."

"You promise?" Neal asked mournfully.

"I swear it on my shield."

Neal began to jog down the corridor, a bounce in his step. "Well, hurry up then! I'm famished!"

"Hey, I thought you were severely injured!" Dom cried, running to catch up.

"Oh, yeah. I feel better now!"

Kel ran after them, calling down the hall. "Maybe we should turn around and go to the mess reserved for incredibly frumpy old falsifiers!"

"Nah, I was just there yesterday. The food is mediocre."