"Not like that!" Adam's impatient growls filled the room as he tried to walk his human caretaker through applying the bandages properly.
"Sorry! Hold on, just um… hold up your arm and-"
"Ouch! Damn it human, watch your fingers!" He winced in pain as Ruby's hand hastily retreated from a substantial wound on his upper arm, the laceration leaving the appendage immobilized.
"I can't!" Ruby stomped her foot down in frustration, looking only a few stern words away from tears.
"Right… blind." With a heavy sigh, all the once fearsome terrorist could do was lament his unfortunate and humiliating position. I just have to play along a little longer, then I can kill this human bitch.
"I'm sorry. Let me try one more time, please." In earnest, Ruby patted the bed that she gave to her guest while he recovered, searching for the roll of bandages she had placed until her fingers found it. "You need clean bandages, since you insisted on not going to the hospital, you have to let me help you."
"Gah! Fine! Just, give me your hand." Giving a bitter exhale of resignation, Adam reached out his good arm, shakily and slowly until it took Ruby's, bandages and all. "I'll hold down at one end, you just wrap it around my arm and do not hurt me again."
"Alright! You can do this Ruby!" She cheered herself on outloud while she felt the spool of bandages unfurl. She focused on her sense of smell, carefully lowering herself to her knees to put her head where she felt his arm level was. The scent of stale blood was strong enough to help guild her and with the memory of where she hurt him cemented solidly in her mind, all she needed to do from there was find his elbow with her free hand.
"Okay, now start wrapping it up, not too tight and not too fast." He couldn't help but brace himself for pain as the young woman began to carefully and slowly wrap him up. After a few laps around his bicep went by without pain, he relaxed, watching his caretaker quickly become much more adept and confident as she dressed his wound.
"Is that enough?" Ruby stopped, one hand holding the spool while her other hand tentatively felt his arm, fingers running down his skin until they met the soft fabric, testing its tightness even though she wasn't sure how tight it was supposed to be.
"Yeah, that's fine. Now hold it there, I'll cut it." Before she could respond, Adam snatched the scissors up from the bed.
"Hey, you don't think I can do it?!" Her cheeks puffed out and her fist came to rest at her hip while she glared towards him.
"You've done enough." Was the most diplomatic thing Adam could think to say without admitting he was afraid of letting scissors wielded by a blind girl anywhere near him in his current state.
"I'll have you know I'm very coordinated." She huffed, feeling the tension in the length of bandage end as it was cut by her new roommate.
"It's done, you can leave now." He spoke through gritted teeth while he ripped a length of tape off with his mouth. I suppose I should consider myself lucky that she's blind, there's no way she could recognize me. It may be inconvenient at the moment but it makes everything less complicated.
"Right, you need your rest. I'll be back up with snacks soon, if you're asleep I'll leave them on the nightstand for you." Ruby smiled with relief, glad that the ordeal of cleaning and tending to the stranger's wounds was over.
"Actually, could I use your Scroll? I need to make a call." Asking permission for anything from a human instantly felt repulsive, a feeling deep in his chest that gnawed at him with all his spite turned against him. Still, he kept it under control… barely.
"Of course, your family must be worried! Here! Hold on." Without fumbling or searching, she reached into a pocket on her dress and produced a scroll.
"Now you can leave." He growled, snatching the device from her hand. Even so, her warm and kind demeanor never changed. He couldn't be sure if it was because she couldn't see him, but even as hostile as he was, she never seemed afraid.
"Right, heh-heh, personal call, I get it. I have to go get the cookies out of the oven anyway." Ruby gave a nervous giggle before turning around and walking confidently to the doorway. Adam had all but forgotten about the Scroll as he watched her walk, not entire sure what he was watching for; perhaps a stumble or fall? Still, he didn't look away until the blind woman had deftly turned the corner and shut the door softly behind her.
"Cookies?" Adam blinked, sniffing the air and only just noticing the sweet aroma of baked goods permeating the air. "Whatever, I just hope the White Fang can get me out of here, that woman is insufferable."
With a brisk shake of his head he opened the Scroll, his thumb hovering over the call icon, but his dark green eyes were fixed on something else. An icon of a newspaper on the top right corner of the Scroll drew his thumb, and then, with a click, it vibrated then opened.
"Today's headline's." The Scroll spoke in a digital voice, reading off the words on the screen.
"I guess she wouldn't be able to read her screen…" Adam muttered absently at the discovery.
"Search for; Adam Taurus." Speaking loudly and clearly into the mic, he waited for the AI to register his request… but nothing happened.
"Gah! It must use voice recognition." His frustration and anger began to bubble back up while he began to type in the search bar.
"Headlines related to 'Adam Taurus'; Victory for the special Anti Terrorism Task Force of the Atlesian military after Special Lieutenant Weiss Schnee and her team captured or eliminated nearly a dozen high ranking operatives of the White Fang. Among those killed was Adam Taurus, considered to be one of the most radical and actors within the organization. Weiss Schnee was badly wounded in the confrontation but is stable and recovering at an undisclosed military hospital. General Ironwood, in a statement last week commended the actions of-"
Click!
With a push of a button, the Scroll went dark and the room fell into an uneasy silence. For long moments that seemed to stretch on for an hour, Adam Taurus sat there, that cozy guest bed with a cold, unreadable expression staring down at the black screen in his hand.
"Hmph…. so… I'm dead huh?" A dark and terrifyingly pleased grin pulled at his lips while he let the words sink in again. The Schnee witch may not be dead, but they think I am! This is perfect, and the one person who knows I'm alive is a blind human in the middle of nowhere!
"Still, I have a lot of questions. How did I get away? The article said that Ironwood released a statement last week, so I've been unconscious for six whole days and ended up with wounds I don't remember sustaining. It doesn't matter, once I get ahold of the White Fang, I can-"
Knock-Knock.
"Ah!" The light but unexpected sound forced the fearsome terrorist to flinch, the spasm of muscles squeezing his cracked ribs, forcing a gasp to escape his lungs and the Scroll to drop.
"Excuse me I- Oh, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting! I heard the Scroll turn off so I thought you were finished. Um, are you okay? You sound like you're in pain?" Ruby opened the door wide with a worried expression and a plate almost overflowing with an assortment of different kinds of cookies.
"Did you try to get up? I told you to call me if you needed anything! You promised you'd take it easy!" The worry was half replaced with compassionate scolding as she made her way back across the room, placing the plate down on the nightstand before feeling her way to the chair she left by the bed.
"I'm fine! Don't touch me!" Even his snarl hurt his chest and sides but rage managed to dull the pain as he swiped at the air in front of her with his good arm. Still, she didn't flinch or back away, only after a few seconds did he remember why.
"Please, you have to take it easy or you won't recover. If you keep putting up a fight about taking care of yourself, I'll call an ambulance to bring you to the hospital!" She had him figured out, the one thing she held over his head to make him listen.
It's not even a threat of violence. Ha, I've never heard of someone using helping as a threat before. Even with how he detested his position, he couldn't help but find that amusing.
"Fine, I'll rest now." He didn't like it… but I don't have a choice.
"Oh, but you have to eat, felt thin when I got you out of your soaked clothes after pulling you in from the beach. I'm cooking dinner too but I figured you'd want a snack in the meantime." Her smile was almost unbearably sweet.
"Fine, do that and leave me alone." He spat bitterly before slowly and cautiously turning his body so his sore legs hung over the side of the bed.
"Will do! Don't worry, I'm a really good cook!" Ruby beamed like the gem of her namesake before reaching over to the plate of cookies and holding them out in front of her towards the sound of frustrated breathing.
"Just get on with it!" Adam snapped once again, snatching the plate from her.
"It'll be a bit since I'm making a lot, wasn't exactly sure what you'd like so I just made a bit of everything I had. Don't worry, whatever's left over can be leftovers!" Her light and silvery giggle was still completely unfazed by Adam's temperament. Without another word, Ruby left him to his sweets, this time, leaving the door cracked so that the enticing aromas wafting in from the kitchen could fill the room.
She may be harmless but that doesn't stop her from being annoying. Trying his hardest to put her out of his mind, he reached bedside him once more for the Scroll.
Wait… his hand froze centimeters above the device.
If my entire team was captured then that means the White Fang could be comprised. I have the advantage, being a ghost. I don't want to give that away so soon. With a steady release of breath, he brought his hand back and picked up a cookie and brought it to his lips. I have to play this smart.
"These are… pretty good."