Love and Betrayal | Wriolette

Chapter 4: Healing

As Wriothesley woke up, confused as ever, he looked around at the environment he was in. He was in a house. And though the place didn't look familiar, he had some sort of vague memory of being in it before, not remembering why or when. As he slowly sat up out of the bed, he looked around still confused, and realized he was in different clothes and was wrapped up in bandages and had a cold compress on his forehead. He wasn't in the fortress, that was for sure.. But then where was he?

"Hello..?" He said in a slightly disoriented tone. Was he alone? How did he get here? And what had happened? He remembered being in a fight, but the rest was pretty much a huge blur to him. As he looked around, he heard the door creak open.

"Wriothesley. You're awake." A deep voice said. As Wriothesley turned around, his eyes met a pair of dark blue eyes, which he recognized instantly.

"Neuvillette?" He said, now even more confused. Neuvillette was standing by the door, with a cup of tea and a meal in his hands.

"You shouldn't be out of bed, you've been severely injured and will need to take a break. The explosion had an impact on your body." The Iudex said firmly as he pushed Wriothesley back into bed and placed the tray of food and the warm tea on his lap. "Here, you need to eat something. And this tea will be good for your throat, or so I heard from Sigewinne."

"Right.. Thanks. But where exactly are we? I don't exactly remember what happened.." Wriothesley said in a confused tone, raising an eyebrow. Although the place seemed familiar, he still had gotten no clarification as to where he was, or what had happened after he passed out.

"Ah, right. You must've forgotten." Said Neuvillette. He presumed that Wriothesley would forget anything after the explosion, as it took a toll on him physically. "Well, after you told me that you were after an escaped inmate, I.. followed you. Just in case there were more enemies then expected. And well.. I thought you were fine until the explosion, so I finished them up and took you back to my house, seeing your critical condition. Sigewinne was a great help patching you up and taking care of you, you should thank her when you get the chance."

"Oh.. well.." Wriothesley was at a loss for words. Neuvillette followed him? And took him into care? That was unexpected.. but he was really greatful. "I understand. Thank you then, but you know I could have gotten up and ended those enemies if I really wanted to, I just um.." Wriothesley went on defending himself, embarrased that he needed help.

"Of course, sure." Neuvillette said with a smile and a little snicker.

"Well don't laugh at me! I was telling the truth!" Wriothesley said with a pouting mad face. Why was he laughing? Usually Wriothesley would get genuinely mad at someone for making fun of him like this, but Neuvillette was different. And he was obviously just teasing him.. Teasing. Is that something just friends do..? Wait. What? Of course their just friends, of course friends tease eachother.. Wriothesleys mind continued to run until it was interrupted by a deep voice.

"Wriothesley? Are you going to have something to eat? You need nutrition to heal. You're going to need to rest for a couple of days, if not a week. I'll have Sigewinne come in and check up on you regularly, but for now you should take a break from your regular duties." Neuvillette said firmly, with a straight face. He was serious about Wriothesley's critical condition, and knew he was an active guy. He needed to actually take time and rest. He's probably been stressing himself out with all his work lately.. Although, he could say the same for himself. He's not exactly the type to take breaks either.

"What? No, I'm fine. I have lots of work to do, and I don't want to fall behind. Who is going to run the fortress? Who is going to finish up all my paperwork?" Wriothesley went on, clearly stressed. As he continued to ramble, Neuvillette stopped him.

"Wriothesley. Stop. Your getting worked up, and you're clearly stressed out. Chlorinde has already been assigned to fill in for you during your absence, and you can deal with your paperwork when you go back to working at the fortress." Neuvillette said in a firm tone, stopping Wriothesley.

"Thank you Neuvillette, but I'm fine. See?" Wriothesley said as he stood up quickly, but as he tried to walk around the room, his leg gave in and he fell to the ground in pain. "Ow- Fuck!" He exclaimed.

"Wriothesley.." Neuvilette said with a sigh as he walked over to pick him up and place him back in bed. "See? This is what I mean. Your body is in no condition for you to be working, and you can't even walk properly. Now eat something, and drink your tea. Take time to rest." Neuvillette said softly. He was serious about him getting better.

"Fine fine.." Wriothesley said in a raspy voice. He didn't want to rest, but his injuries told him otherwise.. So he supposed he would just have to try and enjoy some time off. He usually never gets breaks anyways.

"Alright well then, I still need to attend to my duties as the Iudex, so rest, and I'll have sigewinne come check on you sometime today." Neuvillette said as he left the room. Wriothesley sat there, bored out of his mind with nothing to do. Usually, if he's not working, he walks around the fortress or sometimes (rarely) goes up to the city to walk around. He doesn't have many hobbies that don't require movement.. So he just ate, had his tea, and went back to bed.

-

It was late in the afternoon. Wriothesley was awake, and Neuvillette had just returned home.

"Oh. Hi, Neuvi." Said Wriothesley, looking up from the couch as Neuvillette entered the house.

Neuvi? thought Neuvillette. He didn't know what to think of the nickname, but he didn't mind it. Infact, he thought it was kind of sweet.

"Greetings. How.. exactly did you manage to make your way to the couch? I haven't heard back from Sigewinne yet, but she presumes that the joints in your leg have been sprained badly." Said the Iudex with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah.. well, it took me a while, but I used the hand railing of the stairs and limped the rest of my way here" He said with a little laugh. Neuvillette on the other hand wasn't too amused.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in bed? You really never listen.." Neuvilette sighed.

"Yeah yeah whatever.." The Duke said with a smirk.

"Well, I'll make something to eat." Said Neuvillette. He had only given Wriothesley something small to eat in the morning, so he assumed he would be hungry. "Sigewinne will come later tonight for a check up and fix your bandages again."

"Right. Thanks.." Said Wriothesley.

Neuvillette proceeded to cook a hefty meal for the both of them, and Wriothesley was definitely hungry alright..

"You're a pretty good cook!" Said Wriothesley with a smile, mouth stuffed with food.

"Please.. don't talk while eating." Neuvillette said with a sigh, trying to cover the smile on his face. He was glad that Wriothesley was enjoying the meal.

And so the night went on.