Pick a Card

You chuckled. “Sure. What are the rules?” You could hear Lad gulp audibly.

“Just… flip until you hit a face card and tell me or show me what it is.”

“Sure.” You carefully flipped one card over. Things felt oddly tense.

“Nine of Clubs.”

“Keep going.”

You nodded and flipped another card. The second one pulled was a face card. You chuckled and announced.

“Queen of Clubs. What now?” Looking up you noticed Lad’s posture change subtly. His shoulders pulled and his back arched. The way he stood became a bit more confident as he turned around with a coy smile on his lips. He seemed to have a renewed, confident and searching gaze as he eyed you, seemingly as if seeing you again for the first time.

“Ah, I figured it out.” Lad said in a softer, more restrained and calculated tone.

“What?” You looked at him closely.

Lad stepped closer until he was a bit too close. He bent forward, looking at you from each angle. You finally flinched and stepped back as he touched your hair. He giggled.

“What you’re hiding.” Lad stepped towards you again as you stepped back.

You gritted your teeth. “Hey! What’s wrong with you? Step b-” Your back hit the wall and your eye twitched as the sultry lad grabbed your arm and hung off of you.

“I’m seriously gonna hit you.” You warned. The only thing that was giving you pause was the demeanour with which he hung off of you, which gave off the same feeling as if a woman was doing it.

“Fine.” Lad pouted, letting go. He stepped back elegantly and grabbed the deck, shuffling it in his hands with finesse.

“If you aren’t going to spoil me, I guess that’s it, then.” He offered the deck outstretched in his hand.

“Pick a card~”

Reluctantly you reached forward, considering the words he said before. If it is a deck that has been hand shuffled you are already being tricked. You were not sure what could happen to make the situation more strange so you drew it and immediately showed Lad.

“Ace of Spades.” As you showed him, his posture returned and his expression became slightly embarrassed. He spoke in the tone that was originally familiar to you.

“Well… That’s how the game goes.”

You gulped. “You’re… pretty good at acting.” There had been a few travelling shows that you’d seen in your life and no actor had ever pulled off a performance quite like that.

Lad nodded. “Well, it was one of the few past-times we had.”

You let yourself relax, sighing as you asked earnestly. “So you made up a character for each Face and…”

Lad smiled meekly, shuffling the cards idly as he leaned his butt on the table. “The King, the Queen, The Jack and… Me.”

“The Ace?” You smiled.

“Making yourself the best one, huh?”

“Not my choice. My Sister wouldn’t let me have it any other way. She said I was the best and so my card was the best.” He went on, easily turning the deck around and fanning it out to show that it was shuffled into perfect order. You observed that the Jester was missing, but that was standard in most decks. It was a card one would remove.

“Leto came up with most of the characters. For the suits she assigned some… traits to them. So when it’s one plus another the characters would be a little different. It made each day interesting, you know?”

You peered at him. It was hard to find him suspicious, even though you had every reason to. Deciding to drop it, you asked.

“Is that fire hot enough, yet?”

“Ah!” Lad laddled water into a pot.

As the water was heating up Lad left. He returned a minute later with a few of the flowers. He handed them to you and watched you inspect each one carefully.

“These work. Get that water hot. If it looks low add more.”

“Yes!” Lad followed your directions, fretting over the details.

You stripped the blue petals from the flowers, then carefully pulled the stem from the bud before placing it on one of the delicate petals. You crushed it with your palm and waved for Lad. He attended to you instantly.

“Twine… thread. Whatever you have.”

“Thread.” He went into a cupboard and brought out a spool. You nodded at the thinness of it and smiled, wrapping the crushed stem in the blue petals before carefully tying it together into a firm ball. You looked up to see the water steaming. You approached and dropped the ball in. It sunk. You watched as blue began to seep into the water. Closing your eyes, you wafted the steam over to your nose.

“Good. This’ll work. Did you catch all that?”

Lad nodded. “You crushed the flower after removing the petals and wrapped the petals around, typing them. Why?” He asked curiously.

“Throwing the flowers into the pot would do too little. Crushing them as is and throwing them in would be potentially toxic. It’s too much. The method botanists found is that by wrapping the crushed pod in the petals, they act as a natural filter. If you keep the ball in for no more than five minutes while it’s boiling you can actually drink this as tea. It tastes bitter, but it’s good for an upset stomach.”

Lad stared at you in awe, lips parting. “How much do you know about these things? I’ve-” He gulped.

“You should get this to her pretty quickly. It’s ready.”

“Of course! Thank you.” Lad took the pot and seemed a bit unsteady with the amount of water that was in it. You shook your head, stopping him and taking it from him gently. You two were very close as your hand rested over his as it clasped the handle. Your other hand rested down the handle a little more for support.

“You look like you’re about to fall over with it.” You uttered in annoyance.

“Let me carry that for you.”

“But-”

“You wanna have a burn to take care of while your sister’s sick, idiot?” You asked sharply.

Lad relented and let go, allowing you to take the pot. You easily carried it with Lad to the room you refused to intrude on earlier. Entering in, you saw a girl with silver hair sleeping on a bed of blue flowers. They were hung up from the ceiling and by the windows as well. You looked at it and thought.

Such a waste…

You stood at the door and waited. Lad looked back at you. “Uhm, thank you. Usually I wouldn’t like it if any man enters Leto’s room.” He said softly.

“But you-” He stopped, his gaze lingering on you before blushing and stepping aside.

“I- I’ll make an ‘exception.’”

“Thanks. She needs to be up, by the way.” You stated, carefully resting the pot on the nightstand. You stopped and narrowed your gaze on him.

“Were you trying to say something about my sexuality?” You whispered.

“Because you’re the one that came on to me early.”

“N-no! I-” Lad stammered.

“Came on to who?” A female voice asked softly. You looked up to see the girl rubbing her eyes. She spoke with a somewhat raspy, sickly tone.

“What time is it? Lad?”

“Leto, I’m here! This-” He paused.

“ -person came up with another way to help you.”

You offered a friendly smile and a wave. “Hey. Leto?” She nodded.

“You’re gonna need to sit up. Put your face close to the pot but not over it.”

“Okay.” She said. Lad watched anxiously from nearby.

You began wafting the steam towards her. “Just breathe as deep as you can, alright? Sorry if it hurts.”

“O-okay…” She croaked, bracing. As the steam hit her face she inhaled, You watched a good amount go in. She exhaled slowly, then inhaled again and suddenly turned as she let out a hacking cough.

Lad gritted his teeth. “Dammit! What did you-”

“Relax.” You waited and watched. These were things you had only read about in books, but you were confident enough. After a few more loud coughs she hacked up an ugly mess onto the bedspread, then a smaller bit.

“When you stop coughing, come over here and breathe again.” She turned back and shuddered, inhaling. You wafted the steam to her face. She coughed some more, but it had become less substantial. You smiled and remarked to Lad.

“The mucus builds up in the lungs and makes it hard to breathe. The steam loosens it and clears the airways while the flower’s effects reduce inflammation. The combination allows a person to recover if they feel like their throat is closing up, so long as you can get it into the lungs safely.”

Lad looked amazed as he watched Leto breathe deeply. Those breaths were only followed by small coughs. Then there came another big cough as a spatter of blood landed on the bedspread. Lad rushed over and wiped her mouth.

“No!”

You sighed gravely. “This isn’t a cure. It’s a treatment. You were scammed in another way… the flowers are only sustaining her, and that’s all they’ll do. If there’s a serious underlying condition, this wont fix it for sure.”

“But you said-”

“I never said I was sure. This’ll make her airways open up after you do it, but mucus’ll build up again. That’s part of healing. If it doesn’t seem to get better with this, there’s something wrong. You’ll need a doctor. Got it?” You said seriously.

“Yes.” Lad nodded.

“Thank you.” Leto said.

“Sure.” You turned to leave.

“Just keep fanning the steam towards her. She should have an easy time resting. I think… it’ll be expensive but you wanna take all this shit from the ceiling and window and use it the way I said. Only problem is that these are gonna wilt and be useless soon. Sorry. You’ll need to buy more to keep it up.”

“Wait.” Lad asked from Leto’s side. You stopped at the door and waited.

“I need you. I- I mean… I need someone who knows about these things to help me buy them and to negotiate with the sellers so that I know when I’m being duped.”

You shook your head. “I have other things I need to do. I got two idiots I need to worry about now.” Leto giggled at that. Lad turned, looking touched, as if he hadn’t seen that in a while. Lad quickly stood up and announced.

“I have money!” You stopped again and turned to squint at him.

“I can’t take your money, stupid. You need it. But I also can’t help you. Keep your savings and… just spend a bit more wisely.”

“That’s not it. I have enough. I have enough to handle your friend's debts… any other debts. I’ll pay you. I’ll give you whatever you want.” He took a breath and sounded more firm as he asserted.

“You should stay. I need you. I’d like you to be… with me. Here.”

As awkward as that request was, it tugged you in a strange and inexplicable way. You clutched your chest and tensed up. Your heart was beating quickly.

“What the… What are you-”

“Don’t think about it… You can trust me. I can do anything for you, and I need you.” He stated again with the same firmness. You gulped, feeling an odd pull. You were standing at the door.

“Lad…’ Leto whispered.

“Please.”

“I can’t.” You **** yourself to say. You felt a need to help him, but you fought back that feeling and ignored his request, keeping your mind on your goal. As you took another step Lad clicked his tongue..

“Dammit… I’m- I’m not good at this! Leto, pick a card.”

“I won’t.” She said calmly and quietly.

“Leto!”

“That’s enough!” She screamed. He stopped and nodded.

“I…” Lad smiled and looked up apologetically.

“I’m really sorry, Fin. I don’t know what came over me.”

You shook your head. “Don’t mention it… You’re looking out for your sibling. I can respect that. So… You know why you have to respect my need to leave, right?” As soon as you said that his expression shifted and became pained.

“I’m so sorry… I would- I would never… Hic… I’m sorry.” He tensed up. Leto quickly hugged Lad from behind as he started crying, pulling him into the bed. You took that as your cue and shut the door. Walking out into the hall you saw the two girls had already gotten set up with Jeane sat up in one of the pews with her head back and Kara curled up on the floor in a circle under one of the other front pews.

“Hm.” You squatted down near the fox and watched her ears moving. She seemed to be sleeping.

Long day, I guess. You reached out and carefully poked the tip of one of her ears. It shuddered back and forth.

“Heh.” You smirked.

I wanna blow in them… You admitted before resisting your intrusive thoughts and standing up. You looked at the double doors to the hall at the end, then the two doors in back.

“Fuck…” You were pretty tired, but you also suddenly wondered if all of you sleeping at once would be a good idea. Something did not sit right with you concerning Lad. You weighed your options, then just slumped down in your own pew and closed your eyes.

You awoke with a gasp, noticing you had slept through the morning and it was almost noon. You groaned, leaning your head back as you rubbed the tiredness from your eyes. As you started to fully gather your senses you felt a weight on your lap. You placed your hand down beside you before looking and felt something warm and soft.

“Mmn…” You finally just looked down and saw Kara curled up beside you with her head in your lap. You inhaled slowly.

“Wake up.” You grunted.

“Hey!” She stirred but didn’t move, even while you shook her shoulder. If anything, she just nestled in closer. You looked around and saw Jeane staring daggers at her. Her eyes swivelled up to you before averting very suddenly. She turned up her nose and sat back with her arms crossed.

I never sleep this late. You thought, bending down to get closer to her ear. As the big fox ear twitched from you just coming near you inhaled then blew hard. Kara shot up, fully shuddering and cringsing. Her hand moved to her ear, scratching it and rolling over it.

“W-what gives!?” She stared you down from a crouched, poised position on the pew with her ears back.

You stared right back at her, undeterred. “If you use me as a pillow without asking, I’m free to bully you a little.”

Kara looked around at where she was. “B-bully?” She regained her composure and doubled down, leaning close to your face.

“You should be happy to have a pretty girl resting on your lap!”

“Pfft…” You smirked.

“What?” She cocked her head to one side.

“You’re literally just a stray cat. You should be careful. You know I’m descended from beast tamers on my dad’s side?” You leaned close, trying to make yourself sound spooky. Instead, she seemed to show the opposite reaction. Kara’s ears perked up and she wobbled her head left and right as she asked.

“What’s that?”

“Did your parents not teach you anything?”

“No.” she said with a furrowed brow.

You placed your palm over your face. I can’t beat this girl… You sighed.

“I was joking… It is technically true but as far as I know, my dad didn’t learn it and my dad’s dad didn’t either. It’s just an old trade. We’re… like… maybe responsible for dog beastfolk..” You blushed.

“Or something.”

“Does it still go on?” Kara asked with interest. She was still in a rather primal squat beside you on the pew. You looked up in thought. Before you could even answer she added proudly, her tail wagging.

“I can’t be tamed. I’m too smart and strong-willed.” Your mouth fell open. You stared at the fox incredulously.

“W-what?”

Jeane stood up and dusted herself off. “He is saying, without saying, that you are an idiot.”

Her eyes widened. She grimaced angrily at you. “Is that what you’re saying!?”

You smiled and waved your hand awkwardly at her. “Nonsense… Kara is a very smart girl, right?”

“Right!” She nodded, a smile reforming.

You stared up at Jeane, still gathering energy for the day. It felt like it was drained, even though you didn’t even do anything that strenuous.

“Do you not have a filter?”

Jeane stood in front of you, looking down her cute, pale nose with a small, neutral expression. After a short pause her cheeks darkened and she cracked enough in the staring contest to say.

“If I were in my own environment, I would filter you through a fine mesh for asking me that question.”

“Hah?” Your eye twitched.

“You some kind of princess?”

“Yes.” She smirked. You bent forward, leaning on your knee as you flicked her forehead. She clutched it, stumbling back.

“Haieee! Ow!”

“So what? Fold those blankets nicely that you used and put the cushions on top.” You heard Kara snickering beside you at Jeane. It annoyed you to see her stick her tongue out.

“Keep that in your mouth or I’m gonna take it.” It was an odd enough threat that she just did it. You inhaled, then let out a deep sigh.

“I’m beat.” You waved Kara over.

“Don’t just stand around. Help her out.”

“Why don’t you?” Kara argued. You just levelled an unimpressed gaze at her until she started moving.

Once they were put to work cleaning up you pulled your underarmour away from your chest and sniffed.

“Gross… that’s probably it. Haven’t bathed in weeks.” Your muscles were sore as if you had been marching and fighting all day yesterday. You finally **** yourself up and walked around to find Lad. You checked every room until the last. You cracked the door and saw the two of them sleeping. Lad was on the floor, resting his head on the bedside. You went and got a blanket, unfurling it to drape it over his shoulders before leaving with the girls out the front.

“How about a bath?” You asked.

“No.” Kara shook her head.

‘I would like one, but how do you barbarians handle bathing? I assumed it was not something any of you did.”

“Teor does public bathing, but I wanna find one with a private option.”

Jeane nodded. “I too would like that.”

“I’m not bathing. I don’t need it.” Kara reiterated.

You rubbed your chin. “Oddly enough, we’ll actually have better luck in Lower Teor. The rich kinda think they’re cultured, so they have this thing where they partake in poor cultures as a way of connecting with their roots or something…”

“How gauche.” Jeane sneered.

“I would never pretend to be poor for any reason.”

“Haha.” You chuckled at that.

“So we’re in agreement.”

“No!” Kara seethed.

“I do not believe there should be any issue.” Jeane nodded.

***

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