𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸'𝚖 𝙶𝚘𝚗𝚎 | 𝙰. 𝙰𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚝

•18•

(Not Edited)

"Don't touch that!" Niccolo shouts just as your fingers wrap over the handle of the pot on the stove.

"Ouch!" You let go quickly, feeling the burning sensation worsen.

"Sorry, I forgot to turn the stove off ," he grabs your unburned hand and pulls you to the sink and forced your wound under the cool water.

It seems to eliminate most of the pain, but it's not enough to completely get rid of it. You hold a towel against it and wince.

"It's okay. My fault really," you chuckle weakly.

"There's some medicine and bandages down the hall in the bathroom," Niccolo points behind him at the door. "I'll clean up here, you should get that fixed up before your escort gets here?"

You nod, thinking whoever is picking you up today will most likely be on time, so you better be fast about getting your wound cleaned up.

The walk was short and you close the door behind you as you enter the bathroom. The room is silent compared to the busy kitchen and it's rather therapeutic.

It's like the world has slowed down to a crawl and you have all the time you could possibly want. To think. To not think. Maybe even finally let your emotions take over.

But you can't. Not yet at least.

For now you need to get your hand wrapped up and then find a way for you to see the kids. It's been a few days and you want to make sure they're okay.

You pull out the cotton bandage and secure it against your sizzled skin and then wrap a bandage around it to keep it in place. It didn't seem bad enough for medicine to be necessary, so you go ahead and leave the bathroom.

Your feet carry you back towards the kitchen, but some stern words are what stop you in your tracks.

"Let's go."

You glance down the other hall and find Floch standing with his body facing yours. He's not at tall as you remember from your first encounter with him. In fact, he looks less intimidating than a child.

"Yes sir," you mock.

You wanted to say goodbye to Niccolo and thank him for the day full of distraction and familiarity, but Floch has other plans and he doesn't care what you want.

He takes you back to the Trost Headquarters and you hold your hand delicately in your lap, not wanting to irritate it.

"What did you do?" Floch eyes you suspiciously from across the wagon.

You look down at your hand and shrug. "Burned it. Happens a lot on the kitchen."

He doesn't give you a response. He just looks out across the scattered pedestrians meandering about the streets.

~

"Go up to your room," Floch orders and then parts ways with you and heads down the hallway of the first floor.

You stand in place and look up the first flight of stairs that are carpeted with a royal red fabric. Fighting the urge to go exploring, you start up the steps.

Once clearing the first and second floor, you get to hall that your room resides on. You keep your head down and try to prepare yourself to be locked away for the rest of the evening.

It was nice to be able to spend time with Niccolo, but the few hours spent in the kitchen weren't enough to fix the lonesome feeling inside you.

The hallways is slowly coming to an end, meaning your room is close. Your steps get heavier and the weight on your shoulders become almost ignorable.