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Darius massaged the bridge of his nose in something close to desperation.
"Hunter, tea is supposed to be relaxing. For it to be relaxing, you have to find the temperature comfortable, sip it slowly, appreciate the taste as the steam helps clean your respiratory system. Not chugging a cup of boiling water with scarelyptus chunks in it before the leaves even begin to brew. Did it not hurt?"
Hunter limited himself to looking at the man with wide eyes and shaking his head.
"It can't be any good for your throat to receive boiling water while being still so sore," Darius pointed out.
Hunter grabbed his scroll and wrote down "it wAs warm a. gnyways"
"Little Prince, what do you mean warm? Even the spoon I used to stirr it turned too hot to handle!"
"npe. ioT ws warm."
Before Darius could voice his theory, Hunter wrote it down.
"grkmwslker thisng"
Of course.
"I'll go make you another cup. Warmer, colder, or was this one good?"
"it ess gokd"
After a couple attempts at deciphering it, Darius gave up.
"Mind sending me that one again?"
"*was"
*good
"Promise you'll drink it slower this time? The vapour won't work otherwise, and I guess you would prefer being able to breathe a little better. Plus, Eberwolf always says the warmth of firebee honey is best assimilated into the body slowly."
"finw"
"I will be right back."
A few minutes later, Darius entered the room with two steaming mugs, one with considerably less steam than the other, and took a seat on the couch next to the boy.
"Would you like to watch a show? I'll have an abomination grab us a blanket."
"iM ginna stay diing nothung too lonG".
"Hunter, you are sick. Rest a little, relax. Take care of yourself. It will help."
"iF yuu say sO"
Darius smiled.
"I promise."