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Yennefer strolled down the street, a coffee in one hand and her books in another. Her back was fucking killing her, but that was just her usual. Some days she didn’t really notice the dull throbbing that followed her with every step, but today was worse than usual. Sadly, the world didn’t stop for a bad back, especially when you had chronic pain, so she just gritted her teeth and carried on. She needed to renew her books at the library before the end of the day or else. With the lovely cocktail of pain meds and antidepressants she had, budgeting was hell on a student loan, and library fines were just not something she could add on top of everything else.
“Fuck!” she cursed, pausing for just a moment as she stretched out her back, wincing as something definitely cracked in her spine. “Just one bloody day without pain? Is that really too much to ask in this shit stain of a world?”
“Can I help?” a gruff voice asked from behind her.
Yennefer turned round, ready to chew out whoever the voice belonged to. She’d learned very early on in life not to rely on other people and she was stronger for it… despite what her therapist might think. Asking for help was unnecessary and gave too many people a chance to hurt her.
But she was taken aback by the young man. He was… warm. There was a kindness in his eyes that Yennefer wasn’t used to seeing, especially not when people looked at her. His beard was just starting to grow in and he had a thick woollen jumper that was pulled down over his hands. Yennefer found herself nodding and before she even realised what was happening, he had taken the weight of the books from her arms.
“I’m Istredd, by the way.”
“Istredd, thanks.”
It was just books. Just a name. After she had dumped the heaviest books at the library, Yennefer would return home with just the ones she really needed for her essay and forget about the mysterious, kind stranger with the pretty eyes and the heartwarming smile.
Only, as Yennefer fell asleep that night Istredd’s blue eyes were the last thing she saw in her mind’s eye, a faint smile on her lips as she held onto her pillow. She knew in that moment that Istredd wouldn’t be quite so easy to forget.