Okay, I lied. I'm a liar. Two more chapters before the night is through. This one and one more. Enjoy. Feed me!
Chapter Ten – Secrecy
"I've already cleared this job with the Ash and he has approved but I wanted to be the one to explain things to you. An old friend of mine has gotten very sick, I've known him almost my whole life and we've been through a lot together. It would break my heart to lose such an old friend but his illness requires your expertise."
"Oh? Well you know that of course I'm happy to help Trick, anything I can do for you, I will, just name it." Lauren looked at him with concerned eyes.
"He's a woodland Elf, he was cursed by a Korrigan when he denied her… advances. He is quickly becoming terminal and I don't know if you even know much about Elvish biology but I had no other ideas because typically, there is no cure to a Korrigan curse but I was hoping you'd be able to find a way around that." Trick looked up at her with hopeful eyes and Lauren nodded, understanding. She knew enough about Korrigan's to know that when they cursed men who denied their advances, it was always fatal.
"I can't say that I've attempted anything like this before but I can promise that I'll do my absolute best Trick. In fact I'll go home right now and get to work. I'll need a sample of his blood tho-"
"I was hoping you'd agree to this and on that note, I presumptuously took the liberty of getting samples for you, wanting to save time."
"Well, that's great! I'll go get started right away." Lauren turned to leave.
"Wait, Lauren, one more thing."
"Yes?"
"Can we please keep this between us? I know that Bo doesn't want you going into the field and even though this isn't a battle I think it would cause some discomfort between us if she knew what I'd asked you to do."
"Don't worry, I don't want to cause any undue tension where Bo is concerned, no one will know about this except you, me and the Ash."
"Thank you Lauren, you don't know how much this means to me."
"I think I do and I know how much you've done for me and for everyone I care about in the past few years and there is no way I could ever begin to repay you for all of that, so hopefully this is at least a start."
"You don't owe me anything, all of those people that you care about, they're my family, I'd do anything for them and you're a part of that family too, no matter what happened between you and Bo." Trick looked at her lovingly and Lauren got a little choked up, she knew it was rare for Trick to say something so sweet, even though he was one of the sweetest people she knew.
"Thank you, Trick. That really means a lot."
"Thank you Lauren. Just knowing you're on it makes me feel better about things."
"Don't get your hopes up yet, I still don't know how much use I can be."
"Well, I believe in you. That's why I asked you in the first place. But no pressure, just do your best."
"I will. Bye Trick, I'll call you as soon as I'm done with my research."
"Thank you again, I'll be waiting to hear from you. Bye Lauren."