"Well, I can't really check on him unless you get him out from under the bed," Glory pointed out.
"I know, he just…" Ronin rubbed the bridge of his nose.
There was a steady growling coming from under Ronin's bed. Nod had fled there at the sound of the door and nearly bitten Ronin when he had tried to get him out.
"You haven't noticed any physical injuries?" the healer asked.
"He's a little scratched up, but nothing that looks serious" Ronin told her, "just… this…"
Ronin motioned helplessly to the bed.
"Hmmm," Glory folded her arms thoughtfully, "maybe we should go talk in the living room for a while."
"He's probably not going to come out on his own while you're here," Ronin cautioned.
"I know," Glory said cheerfully, "I'm just giving you some time to rest before I make you drag him out from under the bed."
Ronin glared at her.
"Plus, I want to know more about what you think is wrong," Glory added.
"I have no idea," Ronin shook his head, "that's the problem."
"Then tell me what he's doing," Glory motioned him out of the bedroom, and they headed back to the living room, leaving Nod to settle down.
Ronin described Nod's behavior since finding him in as much detail as he could. Glory listened attentively, foot tapping slightly.
"It sounds like he's regressed to where he was when you found him," Glory said when he had finished.
"It's worse than that," Ronin insisted, "when I first found him, he was frightened sometimes, but he wasn't constantly upset, and he wasn't erratic like this."
"He's angry at you," Glory looked almost amused.
"Yeah, probably," Ronin admitted.
"That's actually a good sign," the healer smiled, "it means he remembers you, at least in some way."
"I wish he remembered something besides that," Ronin grumbled.
"Hopefully, he will eventually," Glory shrugged, "we can't do much about it until he does. Why don't you go try to grab him? I'll wait here. That might help a little."
"Doubtful," Ronin pushed himself up.
Glory waited on the couch, trying not to laugh at the growls and barks coming from the bedroom. It wasn't funny that Nod was so upset, but it was hard not to find the tiny boy growling ferociously at the big general amusing, particularly because the general did cower at it just a little.
Ronin finally came out, carrying a squirming, growling boy. Nod took one look at Glory and tried to force his way out of Ronin's arms and climb over his shoulder to get away. Ronin managed not to drop him, and Nod hit Ronin's chest in retaliation.
"No hitting Nod," Ronin caught the hand, holding it against him.
Nod screamed and pulled his hand away, then hid his face against Ronin's shoulder and started sobbing loudly. When Ronin reached up to cradle his head, he pushed his hand away without looking up.
"I see what you mean," Glory nodded, standing up, "why don't you try holding him in your lap, and we'll see if I can get a look at him."
"Well, we can try," Ronin agreed, sitting on the couch with Nod in his arms, "he actually did alright with Finn here last night, but he was really tired."
The boy whined and clung to him tighter, refusing to turn around to face Glory.
"Oh, he's still really tired," Glory crouched down in front of them, "he's just had enough sleep now to be grumpy about it."
Nod squirmed and tried to leverage himself up and out of Ronin's arms with no success. Instead, Ronin took advantage of him letting go of his shirt to turn him to face Glory.
"Hello sweet pea," Glory cooed gently, "do you remember me?"
The boy bared his teeth and growled.
"I can't tell if that's a 'yes' or a 'no'," the healer said dryly, "Ronin, does he have any toys I can use to distract him or maybe candy?"
"He dropped Cheep-Cheep in the bedroom when I grabbed him," Ronin told her, "that might help, although once he has him, he won't be letting him go."
"Cheep-Cheep?" Glory raised an eyebrow at him, clearly finding it funny that Ronin knew the names of Nod's toys.
"His stuffed chickadee," Ronin rolled his eyes.
"I'll go grab it and see if it helps calm him down," Glory went to retrieve the toy.
Nod made another escape attempt while Glory was gone, and Ronin shifted him to cradle in his arms so he would stop kicking him in the shin. The boy kicked his feet furiously in the air and whined, then realized the bells on his slippers where jingling and was momentarily distracted by trying to figure out at exactly what speed he had to kick his feet to make them jingle the loudest.
When the boy saw Glory coming back with Cheep-Cheep in her hands, he screamed and managed to twist out of Ronin's grip, almost landing on his head as he fell, then scrambling away before Ronin could grab him. He didn't try to hide though. Instead, he ran straight for Glory, who crouched down and held the toy out to him.
Nod was apparently expecting her to do something different, because he stopped in his tracks and stared at her, sniffling and fidgeting.
"Come on sweet pea," Glory extended the toy a little farther, "it's okay. I've got your chickadee for you."
Nod hesitantly inched closer to her, torn between really wanting Cheep-Cheep and not wanting to get close enough for Glory to grab. Finally he darted forward, snatching the chickadee and trying to dodge around Glory to get back to the bedroom.
Glory caught him around the waist though and stood up, lifting him up with her, "let's not play the 'drag the cranky boy out from under the bed' game again."
As Glory carried him kicking and screaming back to Ronin, Nod managed to sink his teeth into her forearm.
"Ouch!" Glory shifted him, but didn't let go.
"Did he get you?" Ronin plucked the struggling child from her.
"Yep," Glory shook out her arm, "broke the skin and everything."
"Sorry," Ronin tipped his head to the side, narrowly missing getting elbowed in the temple.
"When he's all grown up, you can tell him he holds the record for the most times the same child has bitten me," Glory smirked.
"Not funny," Ronin sat down in the rocking chair and tipped Nod back to cradle in his lap, "Nod, stop. You're alright. No one is going to hurt you."
"It will be in a decade or two," Glory snickered, "I'm going to clean this up. You try and calm him down."
Ronin started rocking and after a few failed attempts to kick him in the head, Nod finally stopped struggling and hid his face against Cheep-Cheep sullenly.
"I want to check and make sure he didn't hit his head while he was missing," Glory returned from disinfected her arm, "anything else you probably would have noticed, but we have seen head injuries lead to mood swings and changes in behavior. Barring that, he seems healthy. He certainly has lots of energy."
"This is not normal behavior for him," Ronin protested.
"No," Glory agreed, "but being lost in the woods for a second time was obviously frightening for him. I want to give him a couple days to settle down, then see where he's at."
"I was planning on trying to work tomorrow," Ronin shifted Nod so he was resting against his shoulder, and it would be easier for Glory to check for any head injuries, "I thought getting him back into his normal routine might help. Plus, Finn really needs a day off. He's been covering for me the last few weeks so I could get Nod ready to go."
"It might help," Glory agreed, reaching out to run her hand over Nod's head.
Nod whined and tried to push her hand away, but didn't react as if he were in pain, so Ronin caught his hand, gently trapping it against his shoulder, and Glory continued her examination, using her magic to check for any possible injury.
"Just make sure that Orla can stay with him," Glory continued, "I don't think he should be left with any strangers for a while."
"No, definitely not," Ronin agreed, "I already sent her a message to check her availability."
Glory finished her exam, and Ronin let Nod go. The boy smacked him angrily with Cheep-Cheep, then ran back down the hall to the bedroom.
"He's really angry at you," Glory snickered.
"I know," Ronin groaned, "I just don't know how to make it better."
"Sometimes you can't make it better," Glory shrugged, "sometimes you just have to give it time."
Ronin knew that, of course, but that didn't mean he liked it.