It was mid-morning the next time Ronin woke. Nod had rolled over in his sleep and curled up around Cheep-Cheep, thumb still in his mouth and head resting on Ronin's arm. Ronin stayed still for a while, listening to the boy's quiet snores.
His biggest hope for the day was that Nod would be back to himself when he woke up, talking and recognizing Ronin and his surroundings. Ronin was going to need to find time to contact Orla and see if she was still available to be Nod's nanny, and depending on how Nod was doing, he would need to make the decision to either bring Nod down to the healers ward for a check-up, or have Glory make a house call.
If he was behaving anything like last night, Glory would have to come to them, but Ronin was desperately hoping Nod would be doing better when he woke up. He had been doing so well and made so much progress, that it was heartbreaking to think he might be back to where he had started because of Barnet's incompetency.
It was good Finn had been there yesterday, and it was good Barnet had left, because Nod needed Ronin here and not in jail for maiming the man.
Ronin sat up, carefully lifting Nod into his arms. The boy stirred restlessly and whimpered, arms tightening around his stuffed chickadee. Ronin held him until he quieted again, then laid him on the couch, putting a pillow under his head and tucking an extra blanket around him. Nod continued to shift restlessly, and Ronin stroked his hair until he settled, then got up to make breakfast.
The acorn mash had just started simmering when a scream came from the living room. Ronin dropped the spoon on the floor and ran out of the kitchen.
Nod was sitting up on the couch, stuffed chickadee in his arms, screaming as loudly as he could. He spotted Ronin and froze for a moment, staring at him as if he was surprised to see him, then started to cry.
"What's wrong chickadee?" Ronin hurried to the boy's side.
Nod continued to cry, ignoring Ronin and hugging Cheep-Cheep tight. Ronin sat beside him, putting a hand on his back, only to have the boy snatch up his pillow and hit Ronin with a disgruntled whine, then go back to crying.
Ronin blinked. That wasn't quite what he had expected. Apparently, Nod didn't want to be held.
"How about some breakfast buddy?" Ronin tried, brushing back Nod's hair cautiously.
The boy pushed his hand away with a scowl and squirmed away from him, disappearing under the couch.
"Okay," Ronin stood slowly, "I'm going to go get breakfast off the stove before it burns, then we'll find your sippy cups."
Ronin started to walk away, only to have Nod scream again and scramble out from under the couch, throwing himself at his leg and wrapping his arms and legs around it.
"Or you can come with me," Ronin looked down at him in confusion.
Nod pressed his face to Ronin's leg and refused to look at him. Ronin stared down at him for a moment, then went to salvage their burning breakfast with Nod sitting on his foot the whole way.
Nod ate breakfast with his fingers and got acorn mash in Ronin's hair when he was cleaning him up in the bathroom afterwards, then ran away and hid under the bed in nothing but his undershorts. Ronin decided to let him stay there, nudging a blanket under in case he got cold. He wasn't really sure what to make of Nod's behavior, so he decided for now the best thing was to let him be.
While Nod hid under the bed, Ronin started unpacking and putting away his things. He really owed Finn for getting everything back from Barnet. Nod had collected a lot of belongings during his stay with Ronin, and he had favorite toys and clothes that would have been difficult to replace.
Nod had been wearing his jacket with the buckles the day before, and it was filthy now. Ronin hid it at the bottom of the laundry hamper in the hopes of Nod not finding it until it was clean again. As he turned back, he almost tripped over the boy in question. Nod was still in his undershorts and had knotted the blanket around his shoulders. He stared up at Ronin sullenly.
"You want to put some clothes on buddy?" Ronin asked.
Nod stared at him for a moment longer, then smacked him in the leg with Cheep-Cheep and sat back down on his foot.
Ronin caught himself before he could scold Nod. While it was important that Nod not hit or bite people, the boy didn't seem to be in any shape to understand what Ronin was telling him, and scolding him would probably only upset him more than he already was and accomplish nothing.
Ronin went back to putting things away with Nod sitting on his foot. Eventually, he came across the green booties with the bells tied to them. Nod released his leg and jumped up, bouncing and whining in his effort to get them.
"Here you go chickadee," Ronin handed them to him.
The boy sat on the floor shaking them and turning them over in his hands, looking puzzled. Ronin watched him with growing concern. Nod knew how to put his shoes on, but it was like he didn't quite recognize what they were. After sniffing at them, he put them on his hands and wiggled them, head cocked to the side thoughtfully. Then he pulled them off and put them on his feet, thumping his heels on the ground to make them jingle.
"Good job kiddo," Ronin reached down to rumple his hair.
Nod was so distracted by making the booties jingle that he forgot to push Ronin's hand away.
"You want to maybe get dressed now?" Ronin held a pair of pants out to him.
Nod ignored him, hopping up to his feet and marching over to the piles of bags with exaggerated steps to make sure the bells rang. Ronin shook his head and laughed softly, going back to unpacking. Nod followed right on his heels back and forth to the bedroom to put away his clothes, lifting his knees high with each step so his slippers jingled.
Ronin had rearranged his chest of drawers months ago to make room for Nod's clothes as well, and Nod knew where they were kept. Ronin was hoping he would decide to put some on soon. It wasn't that cold, but it was still a little chilly to be running around in just his undershorts. Ronin finally came across the bag with Nod's other stuffed animals, and when Nod realized what it was, he growled at Ronin and snatched at the strap, trying to pull it away from him.
Ronin let him have it, crouching down in front of him and watching worriedly as he pulled the stuffed animals out, sniffing at them, then cuddling them close and making the noises that went with them.
"Nod, which one is Ribbit?" Ronin asked.
The boy scowled at him, gathering all the stuffed toys up into his arms and trying to turn away so Ronin couldn't reach them.
"You can hold onto them," Ronin reassured him, "but can you show me Ribbit?"
Nod continued to glare at him, arms full of stuffed animals.
With a troubled sigh, Ronin sat on the ground in front of him, hands resting on his knees.
The last escape scheme Nod had come up with before Barnet's arrival had been a complicated plan involving he and his menagerie of stuffed animals running away from Barnet and coming back to live under Ronin's bed. It had required that his stuffed bumblebee steal honey, and his frog making it into honey brittle so they would have enough food to get back to Moonhaven, and Cheep-Cheep, who apparently knew where everything in the forest was, was going to show them how to get to Ronin's bed without anyone seeing them, and they were going to live under it until Barnet got eaten by a fox.
Ronin had no idea why Nod was so sure Barnet would be eaten by a fox, but he had been adamant about it, and Ronin certainly wished now that Barnet had been eaten by one, preferably before he had ever reached Moonhaven.
All of that aside, two days ago, Nod had been telling him complicated narratives, and now he didn't seem to even recognize the names of his stuffed animals, or any other words. Ronin wasn't even sure he recognized his own name.
Ronin rubbed his eyes worriedly. He really needed to get Nod checked out by Glory. He would have to find time to send her a message and have her come to them. There was no doubt in Ronin's mind now that taking Nod to the healers ward would only result in chaos and trauma, and Nod had had enough of that in the last few days to last him a lifetime.
Ronin opened his eyes in surprise when Nod climbed into his lap. The boy settled himself there, kicking his heels against the ground so his slippers jingled and arranging his stuffed animals on the floor in front of them. Ronin wrapped his arms around him tentatively, and the boy leaned back against his chest, picking up his frog and making him hop along Ronin's arms while he ribbited.
Ronin squeezed him gently, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his hair. He was going to find a way to help Nod get back to where he had been, no matter what it took.
Nod picked up his caterpillar, and it crawled along Ronin's knee, apparently in hot pursuit of the frog. When the frog got too far up Ronin's arm for Nod to reach, he turned on Ronin's lap so the frog could jump up on his shoulder. The boy pressed a thoughtless kiss to Ronin's cheek before leaping his frog up to his head.
Ronin laughed softly and returned the kiss, "love you."
The caterpillar made it to Ronin's shoulder and the frog jumped off the other side, and Ronin sat on the floor and let Nod play.