Mira frowned when she saw Dan come into the kitchen that morning. The usual light in his eyes had dimmed somewhat, and, from his perch on his shoulder, Drago kept turning to look at his partner. She remembered how he had come it back late last night. Dan sat down and started picking at his food, not really eating it.
Oh yeah, something was definitely wrong.
"Dan, is everything okay?" she asked.
"What? Yeah, I'm fine. Everything's cool." he said, distracted.
"Are you sure-"
Just then, Baron came bounding into the room in his usual overly excited demeanor.
"Morning Mira! Morning Master Dan, Master Drago! Morning Mrs. Kuso! he said enthusiastically before sitting down and starting to snarf his food down. Mira's gaze strayed back to Dan. It upset her to see him like this. She wanted to do something to help, but didn't know what.
"Are we going to train some more today, Master Dan?" Baron said, his mouth full. He swallowed and then looked closer at Dan. "Uh...Master Dan? Are you okay?"
"What?"said Dan.
"Are you alright Master Dan?" Baron asked.
"I'm fine, okay?" Dan snapped. Then he forced a smile. "Everything's alright, okay? We'll train some more today. I'm ready to start if you are."
"Yeah, of course!" Baron's doubt cleared and he bounced up, ready to go. Dan got up a little slower, leaving his half-eaten plate of food on the table.
"Bye Mom, bye Mira. Cya later!" Dan called out as he headed out the door, Baron following close behind him.
What're you doing today, Mira?" Mrs. Kuso said to her, getting the dishes together to wash them.
"Julie and Runo wanted to hang out." Mira replied. "They should be here any minute."
As if on cue, someone knocked on the door. Mira stood up to go. "Goodbye Mrs. Kuso."
"Bye dear. Have fun."
Mira went to the door and opened it, expecting to see both Runo and Julie. So she was surprised when only Julie was standing there.
"Hey, Julie. Where's Runo? I thought she was coming with us." Mira asked.
"Oh, she called this morning and said she couldn't make it. She sounded upset." Julie replied.
"Dan didn't look so good this morning either."
"Maybe they had a fight or something?" Julie shrugged and started walking up the street. Mira followed her. "They argue all the time. They'll be over it in a few days, probably."
Mira followed beside Julie as she chatted about random things, deep in thought. Dan and Runo had a fight? On the one hand, she felt bad for Dan, who was obviously upset, but on the other hand, she felt a weird guilty sense of happiness that she couldn't explain. She shook her head in frustration and tried to pay more attention to what Julie was saying, trying not to think about Dan.
-x-
"Can we rest for a minute, Master Dan?" Baron gasped, doubled over and covered in sweat. Dan had been driving them harder than usual today, trying not to think about the night before. Dan wiped his face on the back of his hand and pushed his sweaty hair out of his eyes and said "Yeah, sure thing Baron."
Baron sighed gratefully and plopped down on the sidewalk, trying to catch his breath. Dan leaned against the side of a building, breathing fast. Drago jumped up on his shoulder from where he was in Dan's pocket.
"Pushing it a little hard today, aren't you?" he inquired.
"We gotta keep ourselves in shape, Drago. Otherwise we'll never beat the Vexos and save New Vestroya." Dan said.
"Yes, but maybe you're pushing yourself a little too hard." Drago said quietly.
Dan remembered Mira watching him this morning, the frown that always seemed permanently etched on her face, concern in her eyes, the worry in her voice. Worry for him. Dan swallowed and straightened up, stretching. "Let's get back at it, Baron."
Baron groaned and got up. Dan started jogging along the sidewalk, hearing Baron huffing along behind him, trying to ignore the pain and soreness in his body and heart.
Notes from the other side here. Hope you like what's going on so far. Excuse the shortness of the chapters, I write all these down on paper first, and when you type it up it doesn't look like as much as it was before. The next few chapters should be longer, hopefully.