* 72 * 1/19/13

Bishop had stayed out all night looking for Lily. No matter where he went, he always felt cities behind; it seemed like he'd never find her. He hadn't been able to cover the entire perimeter around the castle because of the rain and low visibility, but where he did search, he came up with nothing by morning. Dispirited, he returned to the Keep, hoping against hope that she'd found someplace to wait out the storm.

And then he heard about Lily. How she was back, but not at all well. How her skin was blue from pneumonia, her mind not quite clear. But no one knew she had gone into such dangerous weather because of what she had seen. How it was his fault. Partially, at least.

He hadn't gone to see her.

Bishop cursed her stupidity, refusing to take all of the blame. Angry for having wasted his night searching for her, and tired from the lot of it all, he was relieving his stress by shooting arrows into training dummies in front of the Keep.

Seeing him there, a passing Elanee considered for a brief moment whether she should approach. She did, and immediately the ranger's bow was trained on her chest.

"What do you want?" he demanded, his expression hostile.

"I want to see how you are. You haven't slept all night. How are you feeling?"

"That's probably a good reason to stay the fuck away from me." He ignored her question and retrained his aim on her head. "But I guess that would require brains to figure out."

"And maybe it hasn't dawned on you, but it would be really stupid for you not to go see Lily when she's feeling like this. For your own sake."

At her sudden harsh tone, Bishop faltered, considering her words. "I don't think I'm someone she wants to see." He lowered his bow and said no more, but kept the hostility stark on his face.

"She probably thinks you're upset with her. Everyone else has gone to see her."

"I am upset with her. What kind of idiot runs out into the night without proper cover or protection?" Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

"Someone who maybe wasn't thinking clearly at the time? Letting her keep thinking you're mad at her won't do you or her any good." Her expression grew confrontational, but it dropped after a few moments of silence. "You know, Bishop, you're really dense. But have it your way." She started to leave.

"Why are you trying to help, druid? Don't you have a 'thing' for me?"

Elanee almost spat, turning back around to face him with her arms locked at her sides, her fists clenched. "Don't confuse me with the druid you met yesterday!"

"Does that mean you don't actually have the hots for someone who's clearly not your type, or that you're not that much of a bitch? Because one of those is definitely wrong."

Elanee huffed, but shook her head and walked away.

Bishop resumed his target practice.