|Morning|82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6eWWKuEvb
July•14•xxxx
Peach strips of light began to crest the horizon, adding a sheen to the tall golden structures of the Nightless City. Avarice squinted, shielding his eyes from the morning light that drifted into the room. His head pounded horribly, leaving him to cradle it in his hands when he sat up. He just barely registered when the door creaked open and someone walked in.
"Feeling better?"
Avarice lifted his head weakly to meet Gabriel's gaze. "What happened?"
"You passed out while we were in the park yesterday. I brought a doctor to look at you. He said it was exhaustion."
Avarice groaned, massaging his temples. He knew he was tired, but he couldn't remember if he felt tired enough to pass out so abruptly. Avarice pushed the covers off of him and attempted to get out of bed. He thought he must have stood up too quickly because as soon as he did, his vision blurred and the room began to spin. The ground looked like it was rippling beneath him as dizziness took over his senses and he collapsed back onto the bed. The cool sensation of Gabriel's hand on his forehead seemed to soothe him.
"You should stay in bed. You haven't recovered."
"I...can't...I have to....get back to work..."
Avarice hadn't planned to stay for so long. He tried to push himself off the bed again only to be met with the same results. He never imagined that he was so exhausted that it would cause all this, but he was in too much discomfort to really care about the specifics of his situation. He let Gabriel help him back under the covers.
"You're in no shape to travel. How about you write a letter to your family telling them that you're taking some time to recuperate."
Avarice nodded and Gabriel called for Hyde. Hyde brought Avarice some paper and a pen. The two of them stepped outside to give Avarice some time to write his letter.
"Master, how long do you plan to keep him here?" Whispered Hyde.
"As long as I have to. We still have that deal with the local apothecary right? They've been holding up their end of the bargain?"
"Yes."
"Good," said Gabriel. "Then stock up on Anamnesis. We're going to keep him here until he forgets about the investigation. Without him running it, they won't find out who the real culprit behind the Scarlet Night is."
Hyde nodded in acknowledgment and turned to carry out his task when he was stopped by Gabriel.
"Oh! And have the Anamnesis ready by lunch. We'll mix it into his food so he doesn't get suspicious."
Hyde left to carry out Gabriel's request and Gabriel stepped back inside to see Avarice finishing up his letter.
"All done?"
Avarice nodded and handed Gabriel his letter.
"Alright. I'll be sure to get this to them. You should get some more rest. I'll be back to give you lunch."
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Ri-is didn't sleep a wink. He laid in his bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling until there was light outside. He had fumbled himself into a vague excuse as to why he was out so late. Yukimi and Tobi seemed to buy it. Yukimi had walked with Ri-is back to the palace while Tobi finished his shopping. Ri-is forced himself out of bed and down to Tobi's workshop. He knocked on the door, taking a few steps back to look up at the upstairs window. Sure enough, he saw Tobi peak out of it. He waved from the bedroom window gesturing "one minute" as he disappeared into the workshop.
It didn't take long for Tobi to run down the stairs to his workshop and to swing the doors open. "Ri-is! Hey!"
Ri-is waved tiredly. "Hey...Yukimi's not with you?"
"Huh? Why would Yukimi be with me? I haven't seen her since she went back with you."
Ri-is shrugged. "I dunno. You guys have just been spending a lot of time together recently. It seemed like I interrupted you two yesterday."
Tobi cocked his head to the side. "Whaaaat are you...interrupted us?" His eyes seem to light up in realization. "Wait! Wait a minute! Do you think—no no no no no! Yukimi and I aren't, I mean we've been hanging out recently sure but we aren't a thing!"
Ri-is couldn't help the way his shoulders slumped in relief. "Oh..."
The two of them fell into an awkward silence. A breathy laugh escaped Ri-is in his attempt to ease the awkwardness.
"Do you...do you like her?" Asked Tobi curiously.
Ri-is scratched his cheek. "I uh...I don't really know."
Tobi laughed. "Really? You should have seen the face you were making. For a moment there I thought you were gonna try and fight me for her."
Ri-is swung his empty sleeve at Tobi. "I'd have destroyed you. With my stub!" He wiggled his stub at Tobi.
He hadn't realized just how much the thought had occupied his mind, even though it hadn't been long, Tobi's confirmation that there was nothing between them seemed to spark relief in him for reasons he couldn't comprehend. Romance wasn't something he had ever considered to be in his cards. But Tobi and Yukimi were his first real friends outside of his family and he loathed the idea of things becoming awkward between them, or worse, them abandoning him.
In his moment of respite, he had even thrown out a joke haphazardly. It was strange. It was the first time he joked about it. Until just yesterday, his situation felt like a huge thorn at his side and it still did, but now that the words had left his lips, it felt like a weight off his chest.
"Forgive me if I'm not afraid of someone ill equipped to handle monkey bars," Tobi quipped back.
The two of them laughed. As if she had heard her name being thrown around, Yukimi appeared not long after. "Oh! Ri-is! You're here early!"
Tobi nudged Ri-is and Ri-is huffed at him. Yukimi watched them exchange glances and rose an eyebrow. "Umm...why are we giving each other weird looks."
"It's nothing, Tobi just thinks he's funny."
Ri-is stuck his tongue out at Tobi, earning himself a chuckle.
"Right. Oh! Tobi, did you finish the thing?" Asked Yukimi.
"The thing?"
Yukimi gave him a look. "You know...the thing!"
She nodded her head towards Ri-is and Tobi gasped in recognition. "OOOH! The thiiing! Yeah, I finished last night!"
Ri-is looked at them like they were crazy. "What thing?"
Yukimi linked arms with him and began pulling him inside. "Come. We'll show you."82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJyr3N6Pjb
