Ronin sometimes wondered what his neighbors thought about all the screaming. The wing they lived in was all officers' quarters, and outside of the queen's guard and Captain Dag's security units, very few Leafmen worked night shifts, so they were almost all up early, but the head of the queen's guard, Captain Heather, was in the apartment directly across from them and sometimes took night watch.
Hopefully, she hadn't last night. Ronin hadn't heard Nod scream this loudly in a long time.
Orla didn't exactly look apprehensive, but it was fair to say she looked just a little worried.
"I think he might recognize me," Orla looked down at the screaming boy attached to Ronin's leg, "or at least recognize that my being here means you're leaving."
"At least that would mean there's an upside to this," Ronin reached down to stroke Nod's hair, and the boy pushed his hand away and screamed louder.
He had refused to come out from under the bed yesterday after Glory left, and Ronin had slid a blanket and pillow under for him, then left his dinner sitting on the ground beside the bed. He had pushed his sippy cup out a few times for refills. He had finally come out when Ronin had gone to bed, crawling in to curl up with him. He had been very grumpy when Ronin had had to dislodge him from his arm to get up, but he hadn't started screaming until Orla showed up.
"I'm going to try and go in anyway," Ronin sighed, "I really need to get Captain Finn a day off. Nod's been biting again, and hitting and scratching, so be careful of that. He also hasn't eaten anything yet today."
"I'll see if some breakfast calms him down," Orla nodded, "he's not talking, but has he been signing at all?"
"Not yet, but definitely try," Ronin pried Nod off his leg and knelt down in front of him.
"We'll see what we can do," Orla agreed.
"Nod, I'll be home this afternoon," Ronin told the boy, "Miss Orla will stay with you until then. She's really nice and you like her, remember?"
Nod screamed and tried to hit Ronin's chest, but Ronin caught his arm gently, "no hitting."
The child plopped down on the floor and started crying. Ronin sighed and stood up.
"I think we'll be alright," Orla told the general, "are you gone on patrol today?"
"No," Ronin shook his head, "I have meetings all morning, and then one mid-afternoon. You can send me a message if you need to, although I might not be able to come home until the meeting I'm in is finished."
"Hopefully, he'll calm down," Orla nodded.
"I hope so," Ronin said, "good luck."
As Ronin closed the door he heard Nod start to scream again. This was going to be a long day for everyone, he could tell.
Ronin's foot was tapping under the table, but he forced himself to listen to his captains.
Unit captains were divided into groups and over the course of the week, Ronin met with a different group each morning. This let him stay in touch with what was going on in each unit and what was going on in the areas they patrolled. It was also when units got their assignments for the week.
Ronin usually enjoyed the morning meetings. He got along well with most of his captains, enjoyed being able to touch base with them, and appreciated their help in trouble shooting problems as they came up.
He wasn't particularly enjoying it this morning. His mind kept drifting back to Nod and whether he was still screaming or not, and whether Orla had been able to get him to settle down and eat, and hoping Nod hadn't managed to bite Orla or hurt himself.
"What do you think general?"
Ronin had to replay the context of the question in his head before he could answer.
"Adding an extra patrol is probably a good idea," Ronin agreed, "Captain Zoe is light this week. I'll put her unit on it."
"Have you ever said no to extra patrols?" Barrett quipped.
"There was that one time," Ardis put in thoughtfully, "that was forever ago though."
"I'm pretty sure there was a blizzard going on," Terrance added helpfully.
"So if we could arrange for a natural disaster we could get out of extra patrols," Barrett reasoned.
"If you could arrange for natural disasters we'd be kicking you into Dastgir's units," Ardis shook her head, "and they never seem to get a break."
Ronin was a beat slow coming in on the teasing, his mind on whether or not he should try to set up a meeting with the child advocates today or put it off and try to get home as early as possible.
"If we could avoid disasters, natural or otherwise, that would be much appreciated," Ronin interjected, "if there's nothing else, you're all dismissed. Have a good week and be safe."
"Yes, general," they stood and saluted, then left the meeting room, still heckling each other as they went.
Ronin allowed himself to indulge in a few minutes of fidgeting as he tried to figure out what he could cut from his day so he could get home to Nod sooner.
"Ronin, have you heard anything I've said?" Tara asked.
"Of course, your majesty," Ronin responded automatically.
The look Tara gave him told him she didn't believe him, and she wasn't entirely wrong.
"How's Nod doing?" the queen asked.
"That's not what we were talking about," Ronin said dryly.
"I know," Tara shrugged, "but it was on my list anyway. I've spoken with Nod's advocates, and they'd like to meet with you soon."
"That's on my list," Ronin sighed, "what's Barnet's status?"
"They need your report," Tara told him, "but based on Captain Finn's report, they've revoked custody privileges. I imagine he'll be officially declared an unfit guardian after they hear from you. They're still trying to decide whether or not it will be worth it to charge him with child neglect. That's not really Raze and Jori's area though. They'll be working with you and Glory to figure out what the next step is for Nod, which brings me back to the first question; how is Nod doing?"
"Terrible," Ronin rubbed a hand over his face, "he was screaming like a banshee when I left, and I doubt he's stopped. Did you talk with Glory?"
"I did," Tara nodded, "has he shown any improvement? Is he talking again?"
"No," Ronin sighed, "granted, he stayed under the bed for the rest of the day after Glory left, so there wasn't much of an opportunity for it."
"Glory has that effect on people," Tara snickered.
"He bit her again," Ronin grumbled.
"She said he holds the record now," Tara grinned.
"It's not funny," Ronin insisted.
"It's not funny that he's so frightened and upset," Tara agreed, "are you considering taking time off to try and get him settle down?"
"I can't keep taking time off," Ronin folded his arms, "I'm the general. I can't neglect those duties."
"Ronin, I gave you the assignment of caring for Nod," Tara reminded him, "you're not neglecting anything by doing it."
"It's not that easy," Ronin protested.
"Of course it's not easy," Tara smiled, "if it was easy everyone would do it."
"Have children or be general?" Ronin gripped.
"Both," Tara laughed, "if Nod needs you, take the time off. He's been through enough without causing him more stress."
"I'll consider it, your majesty," Ronin bowed.
"Good," Tara nodded curtly, "now we were talking about the boarder infringements near the bog…"