Characters: Dragon Slayer Ornstein, Artorias the Abysswalker
Summary: Silver Knight Ornstein got a bad cold and can't speak because of it. Luckily, one of the other silver knights outside the door is able to read his messy handwriting and offers some help.
To say that Ornstein had experienced a bad day felt like an understatement.
First, the other silver knights had made fun of him which he coincidentally had overheard. Feeling to shy and anxious to actually do something about this, he had decided to hide for the rest of the evening, but he couldn't find peace and barely slept, which made him fail horribly in silver knight training the next day, making the master disappointed in him and sending him away to cool down.
What made matters worse, the master actually came after him and it seemed like someone had spilled that he didn't get along well with the other silver knights. Ornstein quickly had lied to the master that it just had been a misunderstanding, under no circumstances did he want to be send away or have the other silver knights ordered around to get along with him, they were thinking that he was privileged enough already. The master had left but didn't looked completely convinced and Ornstein, feeling bad about his failure in training, had took his weapon and trained on his own for the rest of the day, even after a heavy rain had started to fall.
So he could have seen it coming that he would awake with a fever, a stuffed nose and a sore throat. He had went to the infirmary at once and tried to get some medicine to get through the day, but with his voice completely gone, he couldn't tell the physician what he wanted and was ultimately send away to cure his cold out the old fashioned way. And now he had taken refuge at the sick room of the silver knight quarters, having locked the door and nestled into the bed, feeling like a piece of shit (both physically and emotionally).
He just wanted his peace and quiet until he would be healthy again, so his heart skipped a beat when someone knocked on his door, getting him into a coughing fit.
"You in there? Are you feeling alright? Probably not.", a dark and gentle voice sounded through it. Damnit, Ornstein knew he had heard this voice before, but he couldn't remember where and with the silver knights being in armour all day, it was hard to remember their names.
"I just wanted to ask if you need anything. Your cough doesn't sound so good.", the voice outside the door said.
Ornstein finally had finished coughing and wanted to raise his own voice to answer that he didn't need anything, but his from the sickness damaged vocal chords still didn't to their work. He quickly searched for a piece of paper he had taken with him into the room, scribbling a note on it and slipping it through the door. Only after he had slipped the note, he remembered his messy handwriting. That person outside probably couldn't read it. Oh well, the thing on the note was literally "Can't talk right now, voice gone. I don't need anything. Please just let me be." They would probably go away soon. He just had to be patient.
He heard the crumbling of paper in front of the door and a few moments of silence, probably the person trying to read his writing. Then the voice sounded again: "I am sorry about your voice, but are you sure you can take care of yourself? You sound really sick and I don't mind getting you some food or tea. I mean, I come by here anyway everyday and we silver knights should stick together."
Ornstein just sat ins his bed, baffled. That knight outside the door had been able to read his handwriting. And it didn't even take him long. He ripped off another piece of paper and wrote: "Wait, you could read my handwriting?"
It didn't take the knight long to answer: "Why shouldn't I? It is quite of unique, I guess, but has a certain beauty to it. Looks kinda like lightning has struck paper."
Ornstein was torn after this words. On the one hand, he just wanted to have his peace and didn't feel like talking to anyone, on the other hand it was kinda the first nice conversation he had with one of the silver knights. He scribbled another note: "You are the first person ever who complimented my handwriting. Sorry that I have been so rude. And you are right, I could need some help, at least with getting some food. Thanks in advance."
He slipped the note through the door and waited sitting up in bed if the knight would reply to it.
"Oh, don't worry.", they said. "I can get grumpy when sick too. May I ask your name?"
Ornstein froze at this question. He didn't want to say his name, not yet. Not after everyone had given him shit for being the master's student and let him feel that he had only been accepted to the silver knights because he was privileged. He wrote: "I am sorry, but I want to stay anonymous for now."
"Well, I can't force you, but then it is only fair when I don't say my own name too.", the knight said. "But may I ask if you are a male or a female? I don't want to say anything inappropriate."
"Are you treating males and females differently or why do you want to know that?", Ornstein wrote. "I am a male." He slipped the note through the door and this time it took a while till the answer came.
"Well, my mother taught me that there are certain things I shouldn't say in front of a girl and it still sticks with me.", they said. "Anyway, it was nice to meet you. I am a male too, so we are kinda brothers in arms. I will come back later and ask if you need anything then."
Ornstein heard the sounds of metal footsteps which soon faded away and laid back in the bed, closing his eyes. He was in desperate need of some sleep now, but it felt nice to have at least one person who was concerned about him.
Ornstein awoke much much later by a knock on the door. While he still struggled to regain his consciousness, he heard the sound of a paper slipping through the door. After a good while, he finally manage to sit up and grabbed the paper, unfolding it to be greeted with the most pristine, beautiful handwriting he had ever laid his eyes on:
"I have brought you some tea, but I guess you are asleep. I'll leave it in front of the door. I hope it hasn't cooled down once you wake up. I hope it helps with your sore throat."
A tiny smile flashed over Ornstein's face. He got up, put his feet ins some slippers and staggered to the door, unlocking it to find a can of tea and a tea cup. He got both items inside the room, put them on the nightstand and locked the door again. He nestled himself into the blankets again and poured a cup of tea. Luckily he had awoken early enough that it was still steaming hot. Ornstein took a first sip and was met with a wonderful warmth, that soothed his aching throat and made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
He was at his third cup of tea when he heard another knock on the door.
"Are you awake?", the silver knight asked. "I hope the tea hasn't cooled down too much."
Ornstein put the tea cup on the nightstand and quickly scribbled a note: "No, don't worry, I woke up when you knocked on the door but wasn't able to get up at once, the fever, you know... Thank you very much for the tea, it helps a lot."
After he slipped the note under the door, he sipped on the tea again, waiting for an answer while he heard te rustling of paper.
"That is a relief to hear.", the knight said. "You mentioned you have a fever... are you warm enough? Do you maybe want another blanket?"
Ornstein stared at the thick blanket he was nestled in and his long red curls that framed the upper part of his body. Slightly smiling, he wrote another note: "Don't worry, I am not cold. I have a thick blanket and my hair keeps me warm."
"You have long hair?", the knight outside the door asked, a thud sounded and Ornstein assumed that he had sat down.
"Yes, they are going down right to my rear.", he wrote.
"Isn't it a hassle for you to get it in the armour?", the knight asked.
Ornstein didn't wrote his answer right away. A memory flashed his mind, a memory of him struggling to get his hair in the armour on one of the first days in the cathedral and getting terribly lost when he realized that all the other knights had already left and he couldn't find the way to the training grounds anymore. Finally, he scribbled his answer: "Yes, it is, but I always had such long hair, as long as I can think and the thought of cutting it kinda.. feels wrong. So I rather deal with having to stuff it in the armour."
"Oh well, as long as you are happy with it.", the knight outside the door said. Then he fell silent for quite some time and Ornstein thought, he probably had left, when his voice sounded again: "Say, may I ask what your reason is for locking yourself in and wanting to stay anonymous?"
Ornstein was a bit torn when he heard his question. But a part of him had the feeling he could trust this guy with the gentle voice and the beautiful handwriting, so he wrote: "To be honest, I have a bit of trouble talking to the other silver knights. I have the feeling they don't like me very much and I don't know how to approach them."
"Oh, that is your problem? You fear that the others are making fun of you." It was a statement, not a question. Ornstein felt a knot in his throat and swallowed which he regretted cause it hurt.
"I guess some of them can be a bit of mean.", the voice said. "Some of them just have to begrudge others to feel better about themselves. Pretty pathetic, when you ask me. We all could be such a greater force in battle if we would get along with each other." The voice chuckled.
"So, how do you approach people like this?", Ornstein wrote.
Ornstein waited tensely for the answer when he heard the familiar rustle of paper and he swore, he could hear how the face of the knight must have split into a grin. "Oh, that is easy. I treat them with the utmost care and respect, always making them feel that I am their comrade and I am there for them whenever they need someone to talk about. I swear, I have never heard any of the silver knights heard saying something bad about me. It is just not worth to go down on their level. Luckily, there are quite a lot of them who transpire to be great comrades, in battle and in civil."
Ornstein laid back down in bed and thought about the words of the mysterious knight. Suddenly, he remembered where he had the voice again. One day when he had hidden in his bed, a silver knight had come to him and asked if he wanted to talk about it, but he had just told him to "Go away." and the knight had just left with another word. That must have been him. Ornstein felt abruptly very bad about this, even though the knight outside the door couldn't even know that it had been him.
Instead he wrote: "I owe you an apology."
"For what?", the knight outside the door asked with a hint of confusion in his voice. "You have done nothing wrong. Anyway, I have to leave now, but I will be sure to be back later."
This continued the next few days. The knight brought him food and Ornstein noticed that every time he took into consideration that he was sick with a sore throat and brought food that would be easy to swallow for him. He would take care of Ornstein's laundry and also bring the washed night shirts back to him. He also brought tea regularly and would sometimes sit outside the door, talking to him, always patiently waiting for Ornstein to have scribbled what he wanted to say on paper. One day during this conversations, Ornstein wrote something that had been on his mind the last three days since this started.
"How are you able to feel so happy and content with yourself? It feels like you don't have a damn worry in the world."
A humming sound came from the knight after he had rustled the paper: "Hmmm.. I think there is much that we can worry about. We are going to fight a war soon."
"So how can you stay so calm?", Ornstein wrote.
"It is simple. Why should I worry about things I can't change anyway?" The knight laughed. "If we are starting to get doubts, we shouldn't have applied as silver knights in the first place. And I don't think we have to worry about a thing as long as we continue our training everyday. I am sure everything will turn out fine."
How could this knight have that much confidence? Ornstein couldn't really get his head around it. Sure, he had applied as a silver knight cause he felt he had a certain talent for fighting, but the nearer the day came for them actually move out, the more nervous he got. He lost himself brooding in this thoughts, so that the knight eventually said his goodbyes and left.
The next day the master turned up in the silver knight's quarters, knocking on the door, asking if he felt better. Ornstein still couldn't talk and still felt very self-conscious about everything, so he wrote a note, trying to get it as pristine as possible for himself, explaining that he was feeling better, but still had a fever and would prefer to talk when he wasn't sick anymore.
The master left after reading the note (which took a while), but Ornstein still had his last words in his ears: "I was just worried about you."
Oh no, he made the master feel unappreciated. Ornstein rolled around in his beds, occasionally coughing, alone with this thoughts. He had known the master a few years now, but lately he had noticed something... how much he thought about him even when they weren't together. He barely could await their private training sessions with each other, his eyes were always on the table of the gods during eating, he felt a pang of jealousy whenever the master talked to someone that wasn't him and he just wished that he would take himself in this strong arms of him and embrace of him. When had that feelings started to happen?But that wasn't right, that couldn't be right. The master would marry a princess fitting for him one day, he surely would never have feelings for a tiny knight like him. He was ripped out of his thoughts by the usual knock on the door and the question if he needed anything.
Ornstein wrote: "I don't need anything just now but someone who could probably listen to me. Are you alone here right now?"
"Yes, at this time nobody is here. Training is over and we have free time now, most of the other knights went into the city or explore the cathedral, there is nobody here but you and me."
"I think I have fallen in love.", Ornstein wrote. "But I don't think they know and see me the way I see them."
There was a bit of silence before the knight answered: "To be honest, I am not too great with love things. I mean, I am sure I have fallen in love before, but it took a reeeaaally long time. Like, most people just say they see someone and start to like them, it was different for me." A tiny pause. "But I will try to my best to help you. Why do you think they don't like you the same way?"
Ornstein started to write: "Because...", he stopped, contemplating the next few words. "Because they are of much higher rank than I am. It just can't happen."
The rustle of paper and a few minutes of silence: "So you already want to give up because a hurdle is in the way? Maybe they like you the same way, how should you know this when you never asked?"
"But... I have completely failed. They probably have lost all hope in me. I have done soo many things wrong and even now I just lay down there, sick and barely able to move. I am a failure as a knight.", he wrote, shivering a bit, a tear stained the paper. He apparently was taking it worse than he thought.
"Aw, come on. Don't put yourself down like this.", the knight said. "Everyone of us is having a bad day once in a while or gets sick. I am sure they don't take it ill on you. Maybe you should just talk to them when your voice is back." It really surprised Ornstein that the knight had been able to read this note, that had been even more messy than usual.
"I don't know. I am a bit afraid. I think for now I just want to watch him from afar.", Ornstein wrote. Only after he slipped the paper through the door he noticed his slip-up with the pronouns, but the knight outside the door didn't said anything more about the matter, getting the conversation back into a more casual subject.
After a week had passed, Ornstein's fever finally had vanished, he didn't need to cough all the time anymore and his voice was back. He properly dressed himself, put his hair into his usual ponytail and waited. As soon as the knock on the door and the question if he needed anything came, he unlocked the door and stepped out of the room.
"Oh, are you healthy again?", the knight asked.
The first thing Ornstein noticed that he was huge, that guy must have been over two meters tall. That still was nothing compared to the gods, but for Ornstein with his mere 1,75 m it was a lot. The knight didn't had his helmet on and Ornstein could look into a tanned face with a warm smile, framed by black messy hair, grey eyes and a horizontal scar just at the brim of the nose. He cleared his throat, to make sure that his voice wouldn't fail him and said: "Thank you that you were looking after me this week. You have turned out to be a real friend and I feel bad cause I didn't want to give my name to you right away. But I want to do this now."
He extended a hand: "I am Ornstein."
The other knight took the hand and shook it formly: "The name's Artorias."
(Author's note: I headcanon that they have been a bit smaller as silver knights and only started to grow because of soul power and their part of the light soul.)