hey now, i hope you don’t find dogs all that annoying when they come to you:
you don’t get this. you don’t get any of it at all.
“ …No? That’d make people want to reiterate them even more. ” what kind of logic is that? maybe it’s a bit reasonable, considering your track record, but it doesn’t stop the bitter feeling in your mouth at the thought of it. “ I only meant I don’t want to keep hearing the same lectures all over again. I remember exactly what they’ve told me, and I don’t need to hear it again to pound it in. ”
does it? does it really not? perhaps your status matters none to alfyn, when his creed seems to be to heal anyone he meets regardless, but for others — for others, their concern is saved away for those who they feel actually need it, who deserve so much more mercy than you do now. and he’s right about it, all the pointlessness and the claims against your word, but you push past the acidity in your head and try to pretend like it doesn’t exist. “ …Sure. Fine. But I won’t be messing up next time. ”
to his arguments, you’re almost tempted to groan. “ Plenty of… what? Their health isn’t going to suddenly mean you have food and shelter to keep you healthy. ” gods, how frustrating — you can’t begin to comprehend how hypocritical this man can get, or whatever conclusions and ideas he’s conjured so quickly in his head. that being said — “ How are you even – both of them? You’ve done just fine with his, right? ” maybe it’d do better for his organization, but the idea of him with two satchels seems… awful, to put it lightly.
…and second-hand flustering on your end. to think he’d care so much about it, when it’s only a satchel you’d trade off from someone else –
your hand starts to lose grip at the same time you hear sniffles, and you turn upwards, looking up – only to see a reaction you entirely didn’t expect. your hand lets go abruptly, and it scratches near one of the old scars on your skin instead.
( agh, gods, aeber, someone – help you from screwing up again, since it’s all you seem now to do! how are you meant to care like this — how are you meant to respond to any of this at all, even, if you can’t even get your point right across once? )
“ …It’s nothing. ” it’s the last thing you say before you’re pulled off your feet again, stumbling before you can catch up. the warmhouse is ridiculously close now, a place you realize as you near it that you hadn’t expected to reenter again, but…
“ I don’t know if you’ll manage to convince them, but… thanks. ”
but, just this once, even if you can’t really understand all of what’s happening, maybe it’ll turn out fine.
“ All right, all right, I guess that makes some sorta sense… ” Alfyn gives, some variety of a teasing smile on his lips as he lets the topic drop towards an ending. “ Since you remember all of it and you’re gonna listen from now on, there ain’t a point to driving it into your skull anymore. I’ll leave you to it, Therion. ”
A light laugh, comfortable and warm. “ Gotcha. I’m only a stone’s throw away should you need anything, so don’t hesitate to ask for help when you really need it, ” he responds, a jab at Therion’s general reluctance to go to anyone. Hey, at least Alfyn knows his behavior somewhat well; he can keep his eyes on the man without too much trouble, hopefully.
“ W - Well, I… ” Therion has a point and he knows it. Allowing all treatment for free doesn’t do him any material favors in the slightest. Back in Clearbrook, this wasn’t much of a problem; as one of the resident apothecaries, food wasn’t too difficult to come by whether out of the kindness of his neighbor’s hearts or otherwise. Living there meant no need to pay for any extra shelter, a hard lesson to learn when on the road. “ I can always hunt with H’aanit or pitch a tent! There’s plenty of ways to live life without money in my coin pouch. The struggle’s there sometimes, sure, and I didn’t much like relyin’ on everyone else to pay for the rooms at the inns when we traveled, but changing my ways in the middle of all of that… I don’t think I could’ve done it. ”
( His inspiration would never accept a monetary gift and neither will Alfyn. )
Fingers go around his chin in thought for a brief moment before a purpose for dual-wielding satchels comes to mind. “ One can be for my raw materials and the other can be for all the salves I’ve completed! It’ll be less messy than what I’ve got so far and, besides… ” a brief pause, “ Zeph and you are both real important to me, so I don’t wanna choose one of your satchels over the other. ”
The trip to the Warmhouse winds down and ends, the building radiating a sense of relaxation for Alfyn. One hand grips the handle of the door and he opens it, hand drifting away from Therion’s wrist only to place it against the small of his back and gently pushing him into the entrance.
“ It ain’t anything to thank me for, ” he mumbles, feeling the red finally ebb from his face.
Despite how rough their encounter was… Alfyn can’t help but mentally mark all of today’s moments as a collective positive.
He looks forward to whatever the future may have in store for him, confidence in the way he walks in and shuts the door behind them.
