-Arlett-
A warm orange light fills the room as Arlett puts her supplies away. The sun rises on a new day, a new shift in the Singing Stew. The artist gathers a change of clothes, and prepares to get a shower to freshen up. Reaching for the door's handle, she notices her arm, wrapped in bloody bandages. She was lost in thought the whole morning, she hadn't given much thought to it. Her wounds were gone in the dream, but now that she's really woken up, her arm is still sore. Especially when she uses it. 'As long as nobody notices the bandages, it's no big deal. I picked a long sleeved top, it should be fine. Right?' Arlett fills her head with reassurance, trying to calm herself down. She takes her sore arm and opens the door, turning the corner to start making her way to the showers.
There's barely a sound in the inn, only the chatter of people outside preparing their carts or shops for the day. Reaching for the shower door, Arlett can hear the water running. She knocks, asking "Anyone in there?" A familiar, friendly voice responds, slightly muffled by the water, "Just wrapping up, give me a moment." Arlett smiles, recognizing the enthusiastic demeanor immediately. Lailo. "Sure thing, take your time." Arlett leans her back against the wall across from the shower door, resting her fresh clothes over the bandaged arm just in case someone walks out. A few noises come from the room, starting with the water turning off, then the ruffling of cloth, clips, and a belt. A few mumbles from some of the rooms nearby, the people are starting to wake up. Finally, a turn of the doorknob, as the red haired elf steps out, fresh and smiling as always.
"Good morning, Lailo." Arlett starts, "Did you have a nice night?" Lailo steps out into the hallway, holding a set of night clothes in their arms, responding, "Yeah, it was peaceful. I thought I heard something drop in one of the rooms, do you know what that might've been?" Arlett's mind runs through her night, if anything would have caused such a noise. Her only answer would be when she fell back after hurt- attempting to hurt Miki. "Oh, that was me, I dropped some supplies, but it's all okay."
The halls go silent for a moment. Arlett finds it heavy. It could just be her, but there feels like something needs to be said. "Hey, thanks for letting me hear you play last night. I couldn't get the song out of my head." It isn't quite what Arlett wants to say, but it'll do for now. But Lailo beams at this nonetheless, "I'm so happy you like it, I wanted to try writing more last night, but I didn't want to wake the tavern." The two share a soft laugh, before the little elf continues, "Go ahead and get your shower, Ari. I'll let Mr.Malro know you'll be down soon." The coworkers exchange a nod of acknowledgment, and head their own ways.
As Arlett closes the shower room's door behind her, she lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The bandages stayed out of sight, and she managed to explain the noises from last night in a way that wasn't completely unbelievable. The warlock reaches to turn on the water, but is quickly reminded why the bandages are on her arm. The soreness spikes with her reach, making her wince as she holds her breath again. With her other arm, she turns on the water, and gets undressed.
With the shower running, Arlett needed to take off the bandages to apply fresh ones. It's remarkable how well Miki wrapped her arm up. Taking off the bandages is met with mixed responses, it hurts when the pressure from the bandages is gone, but the air feels nice on the skin. The water is room temperature, which isn't too harsh on the wound. Upon closer inspection, blood has clotted and stopped any more bleeding, the skin directly around the wound is red, while any other part of her arm is pale.
The spot Miki pierced with her claw is probably the deepest wound she's ever received, and it feels as such. It burns under her skin, in her muscle, down to the bone. Washing it might risk unclogging the blood that hardened underneath the bandages, but leaving it unclean could cause infection. Arlett's mind races as all but her arm is rinsed off by the shower water. With the wounded arm getting only a splash every now and then, the warlock manages to get a good clean before shutting the water off. She briskly moves to the counter, having a spare wrap of bandages there. Drying her hand in the cloth she brought, her attempt to patch a wound as well as her master began.
YOU ARE READING
Be My Champion
Fantasy"For weeks, you have been hunted. Since our meeting, you have been seen by them as nothing but my pawn. All of this anxiety, and in exchange I've given you power and purpose. Even to me, that deal sounds so.. skewed. So how about this, Arlett?" The...
