TOMMY
I wake up slowly, strong arms making me feel safe. The bond reassures me that it's Zedd and the panic that I used to have never even gets started. I shift slightly, sucking in a breath at the delicious aches all over - and the memories of how I got said aches. I grin slightly. Luckily for Zedd I'm still satisfied from last night.
He squeezes me lightly. "Morning, love. Any better this morning?"
"Morning." Hearing myself, I want to laugh even as he tenses up. Oh wonderful. I've screamed myself hoarse.
"Are you all right?"
"Lost my voice."
I can hear the worry when he says, "Maybe we should have Pina look at you."
I shake my head. "It's just from all the screaming and yelling yesterday. I'll be okay."
"Are you sure?"
I nod firmly even as my stomach growls. "Breakfast." Giving him a kiss I slide out of his arms and the bed and head for the shower, shaking my head in refusal of his offer of showering together, softening the denial with a grin.
Less than an hour later, we're entering the kitchen and are greeted by two amused pairs of eyes. "Morning you two" Pina says.
"Morning" I croak back even as Zedd shakes his head.
Pina frowns. "Are you all right, Tommy?"
Taking the cup of coffee Zedd retrieves for me, I have a seat at the counter. "Sore throat."
"Then you're not doing it right" Dar quips.
"Or else you're doing it very right" Pina adds much to my surprise.
Despite the color that I know is now staining my face I have to admit I'd laugh if I could, so I have to settle for grinning at them even as Zedd rolls his eyes.
"It's not funny, and also speaking of other things that are not funny, I'd like to thank you oh-so-much for sending my mate into a near panic attack yesterday by not explaining to him how the genetic changes in him would affect him or not affect him when aroused." Oh jeez.
"What are you talking about?" Looking at us curiously, Pina clearly has no clue what Zedd is going on about, and I'd personally like to keep it that way. "And just so you know I did explain to him that his hormone levels would be increased for the time being until he adjusted."
"In fairness I tried to get him to tell me what was bothering him yesterday, but he wasn't having it" Dar adds around his own coffee.
"Zedd it's fine, let it go. You had a laugh at my expense, I realized I'm an idiot, it's cool" I insist, only earning us both more curious looks from the other two.
"Well now we have to know" Dar insists.
"I didn't realize how many times it'd take to be satisfied" I state, not a total lie, but certainly less embarrassing than the whole truth.
"I feel like that's not exactly the entire matter, but given how loud you both were yesterday and for how long I'll let it be for now" Dar says, returning to his breakfast, even as Pina looks thoughtfully at us. "Honestly I'm surprised you didn't bring down the rest of turret with the volume of your howls."
"Speaking of which," Zedd raises an eyebrow at me. "Are you going to be able to work on the tower?"
Pina cuts in. "Even if he can, it'll be after our walk. It'll be a good way to help him warm up his muscles and stretch out before he starts working."
"After last night I'd say his muscles should be plenty warmed up and stretched out" Dar adds as I realize that this is going to be a very, very long morning.
After breakfast and a lot of good natured teasing, Pina and I head out into the woods. She's taking me to a new area today so that she can show me some of her animal friends. I see so many things that I have questions about and I can barely talk and it's frustrating. Fortunately, when I point at things, she understands and gives me information. I try and remember all she's told me so that, when I can speak, I can ask her what I still want to know.
I catch a movement out of the corner of my eye and turn toward it. Whatever it is, it's big in spite of it moving almost soundlessly. I tap Pina's shoulder and point at it. "Oh no."
I shoot her a questioning look even as my grip tightens on my staff. She doesn't take her eyes off of it as she answers me. "It's very similar to a bear, but it shouldn't be this close to the castle this time of year. This is its mating season and it should be near the mountains to the east for that. If it's here, something's wrong."
It stumbles into the wider area that we're in, but doesn't seem to notice us. Two steps later it collapses. Cautiously, we approach it and can see the blood running from the gash in its side. Pina looks sad. "Poor thing."
Curiosity draws me closer. As I move slowly, I remember some things that Sam taught me and I speak quietly to the animal in broken phrases from my tribe. Right about now I'm wishing I'd paid closer attention. I carefully look over the wound. It's a clean fairly straight cut and not real deep. It could be easily closed with stitches. I look at Pina.
"Uh uh, Tommy. No way." She looks at it nervously. "We shouldn't even be this close to it. It's the laws of nature."
I bite my lip. I know what she's saying, but leaving it to suffer? "Pina, please. We have to do something."
She hesitates for another minute. Finally making her decision, she slides her pack off her back, muttering as she does. "And they think that I'm softhearted when it comes to the animals."
She works swiftly, casting nervous glances at the shaggy head as she does. I continue to talk softly to it, watching carefully for any signs that it's waking up. She finishes and repacks her bag. Once she's done, I pour a little of my water in its mouth and it swallows reflexively. I'm satisfied with this and back away from the creature. It'll probably wake soon and I'm fairly certain that we don't want to be in the area when it does.
We head back toward the castle, each lost in our own thoughts. As we break the tree line, she says, "That wasn't a good idea. It could have woken up at any point and hurt or killed us both."
I open my mouth to respond, but she continues ranting until we reach the castle. Finally, I turn on her. "Fine. It was stupid but leaving it to suffer would have been callous. Next time, we'll just kill whatever, okay?"
"Tommy, sometimes you just have to let nature take its course."
I sigh. "I know."
She pats my shoulder and then opens the door. "I get it, I really do. Lecture's over."
I head toward the tower, detouring to the bedroom to put my staff away and I'll admit to see if Zedd is around. Feeling more than a bit disappointed as he's not there, but deciding not to go check his office and disturb him if he's working I move back for the stairs heading up to start my own work for the day.
As I work, I go back over the things that Pina taught me today, not wanting to forget anything. I'm working for about an hour and it's hot up here. The sun's shining brightly and there isn't a hint of a breeze at all today. I pull my shirt off and wipe my face and neck with it. I'm not sure about how intense the sun is here, so I'll have to be careful so I don't burn. Back on Earth, I rarely burned but here might be a whole other story.
I return to work, letting my mind wander as I do. Hopefully I can make some good headway on my Eltarian lessons today. I've barely cracked the surface I know, but I can't wait until I can speak to Zedd in his native language. Well, properly anyway as it's far too easy to pick up curses around these people, and by the looks Zedd gave me yesterday he wasn't too thrilled to know I had added those words to my vocabulary.
I'm not sure how long I've been working but finally a small breeze graces me with its presence. I stretch, enjoying the coolness on my heated skin. Suddenly, I freeze as I catch an unfamiliar smell. I sniff again. It's almost like Zedd, but it's not. What the hell is that?
