Chapter 22 - Y

I woke up in the morning on the floor. I put a hand behind my head as I sat up. "Ah, my head. What the hell happened last night?" I tried to shake a way the pain, but it didn't help. The sunlight coming through the window was blinding and every creek of the floor boards was throbbing through my skull like a hammer.

"Oh, you're finally up," I heard a deep voice from the far corner of the room.

I closed my eyes as his words caused me pain. "Dagran?" I squinted to see who it was.

He stepped forward into the light, his arms crossed in his natural brooding way. "You can't sleep all day, you know," I think he was trying to poke fun at me, but it wasn't successful since he always sounded cross. Or at least with me anyway.

I used the bed next to me to stand up and felt an arm. I looked down at Zael. It was like he hadn't moved an inch in days. My sore head eased as the pain travelled to my chest.

"We need to get back to work. Let him rest," I could tell he actually cared. The only thing he ever seemed to care about was money and his brother, which I suppose is fair.

It took me a few seconds to finally wrap my mind around the concept of leaving. "Uh, yeah," I said softly and turned to leave the room, "Is there anything you need me to do?"

He nodded and handed me a book. "First, take this back to Horace. That's the only reason you two went down that well in the first place, is it not?" I nodded. "Then go for a walk. You need it." I gave him a questioning look. "If you want something to do after that, just come back here and I'll give you something else to keep you busy," he raised an eyebrow.

"Alright. I'll be back," I held the book lazily in one hand then left the room. Then a thought struck me. How long had he been in there watching me sleep on the floor like a drunk? Then again, I was drunk… the thought of being no better than Syrenne made me irritated. That and they'd just let me sleep on the floor. They could have woken me up or something. I rolled my eyes as I headed down the stairs.

"Hey! There's the man of the night. I don't think I've ever been that drunk," Lowell laughed.

Syrenne nearly spit out all of the booze she had in her mouth. "HA! You've been worse, you liar!" They both erupted into laughter, which I ignored.

"Good morning, Yurick. How are you feeling?" I loved Mirania. She was sweet. She was sane. Well, except when I came to food, but she was more normal than everyone else I was forced to interact with on a daily basis.

I sighed. "My head is killing me, but I'll get over it," I scratched the back of my head.

"That's good. I was a bit worried when I'd heard you were sleeping on the floor," she giggled.

I blushed slightly in embarrassment. "I didn't do it intentionally," I looked away. She gave another cute laugh before I decided to leave. "I have to go do some things. I'll see you later, Mirania." She nodded and gave a small wave as I left the building.

It was so bright. It took my eye longer to adjust than I'd thought it would. Once I could see properly, I turned the corner and went to Horace's nearby shop.

"Good Morning, Horace," I greeted, holding his book out to him.

His eyes went wide and a grin stretched across his face. "Oh, that's my Ancient Grimoire that I dropped down the well!" He took it eagerly from my hands. "Thank you so very much!" He took a moment to skim to a certain page and had his nose in it before I could say another word.

I turned to his lovely wife. "Oh, Marian. It's good to see you." She was way too good for him. She had short auburn hair that framed her face, which looked just as good with her glasses as without. But there was something about her smile today. "Is something troubling you?"

She sighed and pulled me aside. "I hear Horace is going out on secret archaeological digs behind my back. He doesn't think I know about this, of course." I couldn't stop a smile. I was the same way. Nothing could stop me from doing something that interested me. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. He loves his archaeology so much, it would be cruel to try and stop him. I'm just glad he spends more time at home these days." She smiled softly then laughed slightly, "But if he knows that I know it will only encourage him, so mums the word." She put a finger to her lips. I smiled and was about to say something when Horace gave a large gasp.

"Oh, I see. So that's how you remove curses from weapons! Do you want me to do it with that Reptid sword you have there?" He pointed to the sword I was carrying on my belt next to my dagger. Usually I wouldn't carry one, but it came in handy when we were in the caves, so I figured I'd try it out for a while.

"Uh, sure," I pulled it out of my belt and handed it to him.

"This should only take about half an hour, if you want to come back later. You can wait here too, if you'd like." He pushed his glasses up and squinted down at the sword, looking at the finest of details.

I smiled. "No, I'll leave you to it, but thank you. I'll be back for it later then," I smiled at Marian and waved as I opened the door. "I guess I'm going for that walk after all," I said to myself.

I first decided to head towards the Castle Gate Plaza. It was fun to watch the children playing. I passed by the spot where I'd seen that kid and his cat the day before and smiled.

"Yurick!"

I spun around. Mirania was running towards me. "He's awake!"

My eyes couldn't have been wider. I took off in a sprint back to the tavern. As soon as I got through the doors I bolted up the stairs and through the door to the room. The first thing I saw was Lowell and Syrenne standing near the window with smiles on their faces. I looked slightly to the left and saw a shirtless Zael sitting up in the bed. My knees felt weak, probably from running so fast, and fell out from under me.

"Thank God!" I said breathily as I collapsed to the floor. Syrenne walked over to me and was about to help me up, but I flagged her off. I was tired.

"Yurick?" his voice was really concerned and I had no idea why until I felt something hit my hand. I was crying again.

I wiped my face on my sleeve and stood to go to him. "I thought you weren't ever going to wake up!" I cried and ran over to him, almost jumping on him.

He gave a groan and I realized I'd hit his sore shoulder. I backed off a little, but he pulled me closer. "I'm fine. See?"

"I'm sorry," I sobbed.

"Why are you apologising? I'm the one who should feel bad. I keep getting hurt and it's inconvenient for all of you," he felt heavy even though I was sitting on him.

I hit him in the chest, but it didn't hurt because I wasn't putting much effort behind it. "You idiot, it's not that it's inconvenient. I was worried sick about you! So was Mirania and Syrenne," my face was still buried just below his chin.

"Calista stopped by as well," Lowell added, to which I gave him a stern glare with my red and puffy face.

"Did she?" he sounded surprised. Like she wouldn't. She's practically obsessed with you. Then I thought about what I was thinking. Which pisses me off.

I hit him again and he laughed, wrapping both of his arms completely around me.

"Awe, ain't that an adorable sight," Syrenne laughed.

"Shut up," I mumbled.

"We should probably-," Lowell started.

"What? Why? I was worried about him, too," Syrenne objected. "Oh, we'll leave then," she suddenly changed her mind.

I looked back at them as they were leaving the room, wondering why they'd left.

"Yurick," his voice was so sweet and silky.

"Hmm?" I turned back towards him to find his lips on mine. More tears broke through my floodgates.

He pulled back. "What's wrong?" his hands caressed both sides of my face.

"I'm just so glad you're alright," I kissed him.

"Stop it," at first I thought he meant me kissing him, but then he added, "What have I told you about crying?"

I couldn't stop even if I wanted to. I leaned into one of his hands and felt how warm he was. It was a relief compared to the day before. His other hand was apparently already undoing my braids. I kissed him. It was a wet, sloppy, weird mess, but I don't think either of us cared.

I hit him one more time for good measure. "Stop it," I copied his trick.

"Stop what?" he asked dumbly.

"Stop hurting yourself. I can't go through that again. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," I held his hand up to my forehead.

"You won't lose me, I promise."

"Then stop charging in blindly and being reckless! Promise me that!"

He smiled softly and pulled me down to lay with him. "I promise I won't do it on purpose."

I glared at him and he kissed my nose, making me turn beet red. Then I remembered he wasn't wearing his jacket or a shirt. He was bare in front of me and I wanted him. Apparently he was feeling the same way, but when he tried to make a move I said, "You're going to hurt yourself again. You should finish healing first."

"I'm fine," he smiled and pulled me on top of him.

"But you're shoulder-,"

"I'm fine," he kissed my lips.

"I just don't want to-,"

"I'm fine," he kissed me again and again, getting more needy.

"Okay," I finally gave in.

Meanwhile, at Horace's shop:

"I thought he said he'd be back? It's been almost three hours now," Horace checked his clock.

"Horace, dear, perhaps Zael woke up. You do remember that he was injured recently," Marian smiled to herself, loving the idea of being in a group of friends that all love and care about each other. "We can hold it. There's no rush."