Odysseus straightened up as Polites elbowed him, and pointed off towards the treeline. “Finally- Eurylochus! Hey!”
Eurylochus emerged into the clearing, greeting them with a stiff nod. “Polites…prince.”
Odysseus groaned. “What? I told you not to call me that. You called me by my name a few days ago, didn’t you?”
Eurylochus didn’t look at him as he set his bag down beside the tree stump, and didn’t respond. As he did, Polites leaned over to Odysseus to murmur in his ear.
“He’s probably still getting used to knowing a prince. Just give him time to relax.”
Odysseus huffed but nodded in agreement, picking up his bow. “Alright, forget about it. More important things to get to! Like shooting practice!”
He nocked an arrow, aimed across the forest clearing, and shot a pine cone clean off the branch.
Polites whistled and Eurylochus clapped lightly, both thoroughly impressed. Odysseus smirked and gave a little bow to the applause. “Thank you, thank you. Who wants a go?”
He and Polites took turns shooting- Odysseus was by far the best of them, though Polites was halfway decent. And after every swap, the bow was offered to Eurylochus.
And every time, the boy awkwardly, politely refused with a shake of his head. He sat on the stump, hands in his lap.
“Man, you’re no fun today,” Odysseus complained, shooting another pinecone and counting how many arrows they had left before they had to start the game of hunting and retrieving them all. “What happened? You were fun at the lake!”
Eurylochus lowered his head. Yes, a few days ago he had let himself loosen a little, when Odysseus and Polites had invited him out to the lake, after meeting them near the palace orchards. Enough to splash water in the prince of Ithaca’s face and call him not by title, but by name. But he had to be careful. Especially when all that playing and splashing was too fun to end, when they stayed out until he was trudging home late under the stars, much to his father’s displeasure.
“Come onnn.” Odysseus held the bow out to him, a little smirk lingering. “Don’t make me order you around, since you’re apparently so scared today.”
Eurylochus’ eyes flicked almost anxiously between him and the bow, but he obediently and quickly took it, standing and stepping fully around Odysseus. It was odd to see, a boy avoiding eye contact with another a full head shorter than him.
Eurylochus flexed his hand with a small, silent wince, then picked up an arrow, nocked it. Drew it back. The tip of the arrow trembled visibly. When he released, the arrow show through the branches with a faint wsssh and disappeared.
Odysseus whistled and crossed his arms. “Damn. I thought you’d be better than that. You’ve usually got such steady hands.”
Polites elbowed him, his eyes following not the bow as Eurylochus hastily lowered it, but the hands holding it.
“What happened to your hands?” Polites stepped closer, taking the bow and passing it to Odysseus in favor of just holding Eurylochus’ hand. “They’re all cut up..”
“Nothing to be concerned with.” Eurylochus pulled away from Polites’ gentle grasp.
“‘Nothing to be concerned with’? Pah. Let me see them.”
This time, when Odysseus took his hands, Eurylochus didn’t dare resist, and so both got a good look at the injuries. The cracked and healing skin, tiny red cuts splitting the surface. Not fresh, not particularly painful or hindering. And still, Polites pulled away saying, “I can help! Let me bandage them.”
“I- that’s really not necessary-“
Eurylochus deflated, and reluctantly stood still as Polites fetched strips of linen that he had in his bag. At Odysseus’ questioning look, Polites shrugged. “My mamma always tells me to be prepared for anything.”
“….uh, okay.” Odysseus sat down on the grass, and stared judgmentally at Eurylochus and Polites until they followed his lead. “So…Eurylochus. What happened? You stick your hands into akantha?”
Eurylochus didn’t look at him. “…no. It was…wasn’t that.”
Polites drizzled a bit of water over his hands and carefully wrapped them up in small strips of linen. “There you go! How’s that?”
Eurylochus looked over his hands. “Unnecessary. But…thank you.”
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