"What are you doing here?" Feliks asked him quietly. "Don't you know it's, like, super dangerous out here? I was fighting a dragon here earlier!"
Toris brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. His eyes still never reached Feliks' face. "I can tell. You were calling for it. If it's dangerous, then why are you here?"
"Well, for me it's different," Feliks said proudly. "Because I'm, like, a knight and stuff."
"I can tell that too..." Toris murmured. His eyes flicked back to the sword for a moment before they went to the floor again.
"So, I'll ask you again," Feliks said a bit more sternly this time. "What are you doing out here?"
Toris squeezed his legs tighter. "I... I needed a place to stay for the night."
"I take it you're not from the village then," the knight stated.
Toris nodded.
"Look, there's a knight's training camp nearby," Feliks started. "And a knight's job is to, like, help civilians and protect them and all that good stuff. So, since you obviously need a place to stay if you think a cave will do... Why don't you come back with me-"
"N-No!" Toris' eyes widened at his own outburst. His body somehow grew stiffer. His hands went up to cover his mouth. "I-I mean... No, thank you... I-I don't deal well with c-crowds... or, well, people in general..."
Feliks raised his eyebrows. "Now that I can tell."
Toris' lips quirked up into a smile for just a moment.
Feliks shrugged his shoulders and stood up. "Well, it's not like I can, like, stop you from camping out here. Buuuut..."
Feliks reached into his boot and pulled out a dagger. Toris could, for a moment, see his eyes reflect off the blade. Feliks held it out to him, hilt-first.
"The least I can do is, like, make sure you have something to defend yourself with."
Toris hesitantly took the blade from him. He frowned at it before placing it beside him on the ground. "Thank you."
"No problem!" Feliks gave him a huge smile.
Toris shyly returned one.
"Now, uh, before I go," Feliks looked out the mouth of the cave, "do you know where the dragon might've gone? This cave is kinda close to the village."
Toris shrugged his shoulders. "No. It could've flown anywhere. And it's too dark to go look for it now-"
"Oh god..." Horror struck Feliks' face as realization dawned on him. "Lizzie's gonna kill me. Or Ludwig. Whichever one realizes how late I am first."
"Who?" Toris asked.
"My friend and my commanding officer. I gotta go, like, now."
Feliks rushed toward the cave's entrance. Then he realized something and skid to a halt.
"By the way, my name's Feliks! Feliks Łukasiewicz!"
With that, the knight left.
Toris placed his chin on his knees. "Feliks, huh?" he said quietly with a smile. "Nice to meet you."
Feliks instinctively flinched when he saw how furious Elizabeta was. The two were alone in the barracks, so he knew exactly what she was going to bring up. She grabbed the front of his shirt and brought him up to her face.
"Do you have any idea how late you are?!" Elizabeta hissed at him.
"Like, super late?" Feliks asked meekly.
With that, she let go of him. Elizabeta fumed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What took you so long? I thought that dragon might've killed you!"
Feliks snorted. "A dragon? Kill me? Lizzie, please. I thought you had more faith in me than that."
"Then what happened?" she asked.
"So, you see what happened was..." Feliks began. "I totally fought the dragon."
"...It kicked your butt, didn't it?"
"Not so much kick as much as flung."
She held back a laugh. Feliks playfully gave her a shove.
"What happened to being worried that I died!"
"That was before I imagined you flying through the air! Screaming your head off!"
"You're horrible."
She smiled innocently at him. "That's why you love me, right~?"
Feliks' annoyance finally relented. His face broke out "Yeah."
"FELIKS!"
They both jumped at the voice and glanced over to each other.
"Ludwig!" they squeaked in unison.
They ran off toward the source of the voice, mentally preparing their excuses as they went.
I read over my old fics recently and found a little oomph that I needed to finish this chapter.
Review, please.