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Eda Clawthorne thought she would be many different things at many different points in her life.
A star grudgby player. (But her sister took her shine.)
The school revolutionary. (Before she dropped out of said school.)
A palisman carver. (Just…not gonna talk about that one.)
An EC member. (Boy, was she wrong on that one.)
A very handsome bard’s life partner. (Another one that’s not talked about.)
An owner of a legitimate potions business. (Ah yeah, a legitimate wild-witch owned business!)
A total hermit. (Too boring.)
Public enemy number one. (Well, she got that one right.)
But she never thought she would be any type of a caretaker of a child. Even back while dating Raine, she never allowed herself the idea of being anything akin to a parent. She wasn’t a particularly maternal type in the first place and then there was the curse and her…everything.
Yet she found herself with the small, strange demon she met that night on an even stranger island.
At first, she assumed he would be a pet. Maybe an intelligent one, sort of like a loyal gryphon, but a pet, nonetheless. But, day by day, he proved to be much more intelligent and self-aware than any pet would ever be. The little guy talked, and communicated with her at a level any witch, or sentient demon toddler could, for Titan’s sake.
In fact, he acted just like an average toddler (which, Eda had to say, was sometimes way worse than if he was acting like an average puppy. Puppies were less prone to loud, squealing temper tantrums.)
King, as he started calling himself. Cute, adorable, often impossible to deal with. Occasionally cuddly and strangely affectionate.
She tried to keep her distance. What if she hurt him? What if her curse acted up? What if he realized what kind of monster, what kind of freak she was? The kind even her own sister could not look in the eyes. What if he learned what she was and then decided to abandon her for it? She prevented that from happening with Raine, no way was she letting it happen with the little guy.
She couldn’t become attached. Nobody needed that.
But King managed to find a way into her life and, as reluctant as she was to admit it, her heart. The little guy was completely alone and seemed utterly different than any other demon she had ever seen. She searched every tome she had in her house, she even visited the library, but couldn’t find anything about any demons that looked like King. He looked a bit like skeleton dogs, but those didn’t talk and they were pretty much eighty percent bone. Also, they only lived around the Skull.
King was misunderstood by others either; she tried taking him to the playground one time and that ended in disaster. He was a strange kid, but, unlike her, he didn’t have Lilith to be his one childhood friend.
So, they ended up spending a lot of time at the Owl House, or she’d take him on her trash runs and potion deliveries. She made an improvised baby carrier from an old scarf. The one place she tried to keep him away from was the Night Market. She resented the implication of being responsible, but she was better than taking a demon baby to a place where he may be hunted for sport (even if she could wipe the floor with any potential attackers.)
But still, she liked to tell herself that he was just…a kid under her roof. Not someone she was a caretaker of. He was simply a fellow lost soul. A weirdo who stuck with her, another weirdo. If she didn’t take him to the night market, it was to spare herself from the hassle of rescuing him from some dumb fuck who wanted to mess with her…very young roommate.
“A little roommate?” she remembered one of her regular potion buyers, a woman who liked using her hair growth potion, asking, “Eda, that’s funny! What will you do? Charge him rent?”
“Well, I might if he keeps messing up my carpet by scratching it,” Eda said in a voice she refused to refer to as affectionate. “Now that will be 5 snails per bottle!”
“Yeah, yeah. Hey, shouldn’t you get him a small coat or something? It’s getting cold and the nights are freezing!”
“He’s fine, he’s got fur,” Eda waved the customer’s concern away, as King snuggled in her pocket (yet another thing he was not allowed to do), “he’ll be ok. Now, pay up and don’t concern yourself with my roommate!”
Later that day she returned home with a tiny, dark green coat.
Solely to stop King from burrowing into her own, of course.
The cold season was finally passing, replaced by nailstorms and acid rains. Eda was stocking up on the potions she would sell to her customers running out of them once the weather finally let them out of their houses.
“King, get me a few more vials from the closet!” she called, as she filled the last one in her current stock.
About three minutes passed, and nothing.
“KING! Wash your ears and get me those vials!”
Three more minutes passed, and she got up, grumpy, her joints creaking (the curse loved to act up along with the weather).
“King if I find you staring at the crystal ball, you’re done for! You may be a baby but that doesn’t mean…aw, dang it!” She muttered as she found him, asleep on the sofa. He was in deep slumber too, softly snoring, hugging one of the plushies he was so attached to. A small rabbit he dug out of one of Eda’s junk piles, “Curse you, little guy, for being so cute, how am I supposed to wake you up like this?” She scratched his head and went to the closet to get her vials.
It was strange for him to be asleep at that hour. Maybe it was just the weather. Maybe his species, whatever it was, was naturally inclined to sleep more during perilous weather patterns.
Whatever the case was, her little roommate seemed a bit under the weather. Usually, he was very chipper for most of the day, with a few light naps here and there. Yet another way in which he was like an average toddler, the kid would wake up at 6 A.M. On weekends. Usually, he would wake her up by knocking on her door, or straight up climbing into her nest to poke her, (one more thing he was very much not allowed to do.)
So, when she woke up at nine the next day and King was still not up despite the sun beaming through the windows, she started to suspect that his strange tiredness wasn’t simply a quirk of a particularly weather-pained species of demons.
When she found him downstairs, he was dragging his little body around the house with a tired look in his eyes, sneezing occasionally.
“You good buddy?”
“My nofe if itphy!” He rubbed his forearm against it.
“Your nose is itchy? Do you need to blow your nose? Hmm, how do you even blow your nose with a skull like that?”
King shrugged, only to sneeze again, “I juft do thiff!”
“Ok, ok, let’s get you some tissues before you get snot all over my house! And maybe you could have some mould medicine, huh?”
King frowned, “Nope!”
“Oh, yeah, you will, before I get whatever bug you managed to pick up!”
“Mawbe if’s a demon ficknes!” King muttered as Eda handed him a tissue.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Eda sighed worriedly. Due to her curse, she wasn’t, in fact, immune to demon illnesses, unlike many witches. “You will take mould medicine nonetheless!”
“No!”
“Yes, yes you will!”
“NO!”
“King, it’s early morning, don’t taste my patience!”
“Hmph!”
She let out a long sigh as she poured herself another cup of warm apple blood. Is this what her mother was dealing with when she and Lilith were little?
No, nope, she was not like her mother, firstly because, well, her mother and secondly because King was her roommate, not her kid. Still, one was supposed to care for sick roommates, right?
“Come on, breakfast, then some anti-mould potion,” she said as she took two bowls and opened the fridge, inspecting its contents.
“Not-dog nuffets?” King asked hopefully.
Eda sighed. It was like the kid only wanted to eat those blasted things. Was she like that as a toddler? If she was on speaking terms with her father and willingly communicating with her mother, she’d send them apology notes for being a brat, “No, there is floatmeal we have to finish!”
King blew a raspberry at her, and she lightly bonked him with the spoon, “Don’t give me that, come on, it’s healthy!” She said, though really, she never investigated that thing’s nutritional value. To rectify this, she decided to end some boo berries and a bit of abomi-berry jam into his floatmeal.
King was picking at his meal and, when he finally realized he would not get any other breakfast, he started eating it but was staring at Eda as if she just decapitated one of his plushies. She managed to get some mould medicine into him and gave him some cough drops, before she let him rest on the couch as she went to pick more ingredients for the mould medicine, leaving Owlbert to look after him.
She also decided to get some seasonal glu potions and wraps. Just in case it was that and he got all sticky, she wanted to be prepared to wrap him up on time.
She placed him into that basket that night. He clung to her in a way that she knew meant he wanted to stay with her for the night, “Nope, no sleeping with me, you know the rules! Besides, I didn’t have the mould nor glu this year, and if I get it too, then we’re nowhere.”
He complained a bit, but seemed too tired to make a fuss so he gave him an extra scratch behind his horns before she went to her nest. Should she take the little guy with her, she wondered. Her parents would usually sleep next to her and Lilith when they were sick, after all.
Well, only when they were really sick. And King was not. And she was not his parent. King would be fine, in the end, he would have to be.
Hoot! Owlbert screeched into her ear, apparently unimpressed with her logic,
“Oh don’t get judgmental! It’s just a mould! He’ll be all fungal in two or three days and then it’ll be over!”
Hoot! The palisman screeched again before he flew off her shoulder towards King’s room.
Not having energy to argue, she threw her PJs on and, convincing herself that King would be ok, she went to sleep.
…..
For the next two days, King kept getting groggier.
Eda made a list of possible illnesses.
The first one, seasonal glu. Starts with a runny nose and sneezing, followed by body aches, and fever, and, around the third day of the illness the affected person becomes covered with sticky substance akin to glue. Something about affecting the sweat glands. Bad cough is present for the whole duration of the illness.
The second one, common mould. Starts with mild cough and sneezing, sometimes some nausea, and is followed by lack of energy and loopiness, though the second was less pronounced in young children who are usually too tired to be loopy. After about four to five days, the patient grows mushrooms on their body, and they are usually fine by the next day.
The third one was Ratworm Mould. Though that one typically presented with a bad case of rash and when Eda searched through King’s fur, there was nothing. Plus, she had it as a kid and remembered just how itchy it felt, and he was not scratching.
Then there were pneumonia and painmonia. But pneumonia in demons was usually not accompanied by more than one day of fever and while King did mention some sore joints, painmonia was, as the name described, marked but something much worse than joint ache.
The final one on her list was wormlung flu and…she really hoped it wasn’t that one. She took solace knowing it was much more common in adults than babies.
Whatever it was, she started to get worried about him because he was in such a bad mood and low energy she’d have to carry him from one room to another.
“Come on kiddo, time for your medicine” she nudged him, trying to get the spoonful of the stuff into him.
“Nope!”
“You need this, or you’ll just get worse!”
“No! Do nfot wan-“ the rest of his sentence was interrupted by a fit of cough.
Maybe it was glu after all.
“Ok, ok, fine, I’ll get you, um, extra not-dog nuggets for dinner, happy?” she tried bribing him as he stopped coughing but still refused to take his medicine.
“Not thaff hungfy,” King muttered, and it turned on an alarm in Eda.
“Ok, well now you’re definitely getting more mould medicine. I’ve seen you devour a 4-person plate of nuggets, and if you’re appetite is so low you won’t even have those, you have a serious case of mould here, come on!”
Maybe take him to healers, a voice in her head said, but she dismissed it and she started the battle of trying to get King to take the mould medicine. It was just common mould, and she was dealing with far worse, on her own, for years. He would be fine.
….
He was not, in fact, fine, as he curled up in her lap two evenings later, positively burning up. He had a slightly higher body temperature than her already, so it was like holding a heat pillow. How high of a fever could he even get without it getting dangerous?
He was sick for almost five days, and by the third day of the illness, she even let him sleep next to her. Well, sleep was a strong word. He was tossing and turning for the whole two nights and she also barely got a wink. She was on two-vial dosage of elixirs to deal with the added stress.
He was shivering and whimpering, curled up into a blanket, and she had to change those about three times a day. Apparently, King’s species could sweat when sick.
Your fault, your fault, your fault, your fault… The voice was ringing in her head as King was tossing and turning on the couch, his fever reaching a dangerous point. He was restless, muttering something about a stone friend and scary monsters, but it wasn’t very coherent.
“Well, you screwed this one up big, Edalyn Clawthorne,” she muttered to herself as she wrapped him into one of her cardigans, all the blankets in the house being in the wash. Or was she supposed to unwrap him to get the fever to lessen in contact with cold air?
She sucked at this. She couldn’t properly coax him to take his medicine. He vomited twice after taking it and one more time after another cough fit. And she was still unsure what to do about the fever.
This only confirmed what she already knew; Edalyn Clawthorne was not supposed to be a caretaker of anyone or anything. Even the plants on her windowsill only survived because she used plant magic to keep them from wilting, not actual gardening.
And she could not magic her way out of this one. She was not a great healer. She could heal up cuts and bruises decently enough to only leave an occasional scar instead of looking like someone sharpened their knives on her, and she could muster a decent painkiller or migraine potion and even some basic anti-mould and anti-glu stuff.
But usually, she would deal with moulds and pneumonia by not dealing with them. Sure, she dealt with worse but the way she dealt with it was by taking an elixir or two extra, some mould and migraine medicine, wrapping herself in her nest, and letting it pass.
However, she had a feeling that unlike her, King may not live to tell the tale. She already tried every potion she knew how to make, and every potion Morton kept in stock and would sell without a healer’s prescription, to the point the guy even offered to call the healers for whatever she was dealing with himself. And, while they would bring the fever and pain down, it would just come back, usually with a vengeance.
The Owl Lady was no softie, but she also didn’t enjoy watching a kid (who, fine, was in her care…) in pain. In fact, her concerns were growing more and more to the point she started considering doing two things she vowed to never do: calling the healing coven, those bunch of pretentious asses, or, worse, calling her mother for help.
Just as she was about to crow-phone the healers (because at least they had some legitimate cures, unlike her Gwen’s nonsense), she realised two things.
She was a criminal, and while her business was somewhat tolerated, calling actual officials into her house was risky. She could get someone sympathetic, someone who just cared about healing a kid, not eating supposed justice on the person the kid lived with. Or she could get a Belos-loving fanatic who would call EC on her and arrest her instantly. Eugh, who knew, maybe her beloved sister would decide to use her moment of weakness if she heard she called and come and try to apprehend her again.
And what would come of King then? Would he be tossed into an orphanage? Would he be chased into the wilderness? Or, considering how unusual of a demon he was, would he be…studied….
Maybe her mum wasn’t such a bad option, after all. On the one hand, she couldn't imagine Gwen purposefully harming King. On the other, were it not for King, she’d rather deal with the entirety of EC than her. At least she could punch EC members in the face without feeling guilty about it.
There was another way to go about it, though; the healers at the Night Market.
It was risky, and she only knew one or two she held any respect for, let alone trust, but she still trusted them more than the healing coven. And they were more legit than Gwen. They were who she went to on those few occasions when her just-let-it-pass methods and Morton’s potions didn’t help.
She looked at King, whimpering on the sofa.
Dang her soft heart, if she didn’t find anything or anyone useful at the market, she may just consider contacting both Gwen and healing coven for help…no, no, Night Market would help. Right? Right?
Are you really so proud you would let him suffer just for the sake of not asking for help? Asked a voice that did not and all sound like her dad…
Oh, Titan, she was going insane…
King squealed, as he kicked the blanket of himself, only to immediately search for it again.
“Ok, ok, I’m taking you to someone,” she said, her heart clenching as she wrapped him up and scooped him in her arms, regret weighing on her, “I should’ve probably done that sooner, huh? Well, sucks for you to be stuck with an overly stubborn idiot like me. You know, if you decided to leave after this, I’d not blame you….”
I’d deserve it.
I just hurt people around me anyways…
No wonder Raine….Nope! Not going there! She was over it!
It was late evening already. So, she grabbed a pair of strong boots, a long cloak, a scarf to wrap King around her chest with, and a bag with some medicine she had. She tucked King into the scarf, and he curled up against her chest. She took solace in the fact he still had enough strength to bury his claws into her skin a bit. Usually, the small pricks of pain were annoying, but now they were comforting.
“Owlbert, come on, staff form,” She demanded, and the palisman turned. The staff in her hand made her look fiercer. She added a cutlass on her hip and hid a dagger under her skirt. Usually, she would only take a staff but she had a toddler with her. She had to make herself appear extra fierce that night.
She was taking a toddler to a night market. Great caretaker roommate, you are Owl Lady…
She just hoped that Ruby had her stand open….
…..
Ruby was one of the few healers Eda trusted. Yes, she was in a healing coven. Yes, she also had a very illegal tent in the Night Market, to help the less fortunate ones and the wild witches. And while she had no idea what to do about Eda’s curse, at least she never suggested it should be cut out of her. Eda could respect that.
“Ruby?” Eda called as she entered, passing under an illusion-breaking charm Ruby always held on her door. Way to keep safe from EC members.
“Ruby is not-ah! Owl lady!” A young, tall witch, who was maybe in her early twenties, dressed in purple and blue, with long, dark-brown hair came from the back of the tent. She had Ruby’s usual apron on, and hands wrapped like a typical healer, but was not known to Eda.
“Where is Ruby?”
“Um…not here, she left me to tend. I’m…” the girl very cautiously glanced at Eda’s cutlass, “Nadia, her apprentice.”
“Huh, she may have mentioned you a time or two,” Eda muttered, resisting the urge to book it, “Will she be back any time soon?”
“No, she can’t be here for the night,” Nadia looked Eda up-and-down and her eyes locked on King curled up against her chest, “Whatever you need, I can help.”
“Eh, we’ll see,” Eda scowled. The girl seemed nervous, very nervous, eying Eda as if she was going to eat her, “Just so you know neither my staff nor the blades are just for show, ok? If you hurt the kid, you’ll learn the hard way, you understand?”
Nadia gulped and nodded, but, impressively, mostly kept her composure, “So? A kid?”
“Yeah,” Eda said, a bit hesitant for a moment, but took King out of the scarf, “This little guy. Hope you’re good with demon illnesses.”
“I’m versed in all matters of healing, let me see him,” Nadia suddenly looked much more confident, as Eda placed King on the table. “Aw, look at the little guy, ok let’s take a proper look at him,” Nadia said, “Oh, he caught a nasty bug, didn't he.”
“Yeah, I thought it was mould or seasonal glue, but he’s not sticky and whatever it is, it's getting worse. It’s been going on for five days now,” Eda flinched a bit, expecting a judgmental look or comment from the young healer, but she just nodded.
She felt his forehead and his paws, “What is his normal temperature? He is burning up!”
“I guess, a bit higher than us,” Eda shrugged, “I never measured.”
“I’d advise you to do that, once he is better, to have a frame of reference.”
“Ok, but can you figure out what is wrong with him?” Eda asked, and Nadia nodded.
Eda stayed back, watching like a hawk, with Owlbelert perched on her shoulder, also scanning the situation, as Nadia examined King, who was half-asleep, but still grumbling occasionally.
“So, the thing is, I never saw a demon like him, he looks like a skeleton dog but…”
“With too little skeleton, I know,” Eda sighed, “I don’t know what he is. Found him on an island quite far away from here, but I’m assuming a demon of sorts. Do you know what it is? Do you have a cure?”
“I…may have one,” Nadiia sighed, “Some potions, a healing spell or two and some abomination cold wraps may help.”
“Ok, so, what potion do you need me to brew, and fast,” Eda asked. “Also, I have to warn you, abomination is not my strongest suit. Also, also-if that information gets out there, you are dead!”
“Well, I have my own potions, as I do abomination,” the girl brought some abomination magic from a vial on her hip, “I can handle that part on my own. And don't worry, I have no plan to defame one of my own."
Despite the horrible situation, Eda still felt her jaw hanging open for a moment, “Huh, you are…”
“A wild witch,” the girl allowed herself a small smile.
“Well, congrats! Now, can you help him,” Eda asked, crouching next to the table, caressing King who leaned into her touch.
“I think I can. I’ll use some spells to help him fight the infection and fever. I think he coughed Ratwowm Mould, which is why his lungs are so congested,” Nadia said.
Eda frowned, "But he’s got no rash.”
“Some beast demons don’t get rashes. But all the other symptoms are here.”
“Oh fuck, I’m an idiot…”
“Don’t worry, plenty of people miss it,” Nadia said comfortingly, “I’d get him a potion too, but I’m out of vials…”
“I’ll brew it myself, just give me the recipe, I’m good with potions,” Eda said.
“I will. Also, I’ll give you a vial of abomination clay infused with healing plants and healing magic itself, to keep his fever down. Just wrap it around his wrists and ankles, keep some on his skull, it’ll help him out.”
“Will do,” Eda said, relieved. She hoped this would work, “Also, gotta say, with this mixing magic shit, you might surpass Ruby one day.”
“Well, it is unfortunate we can’t use more than one type of magic at the time, it hinders healing a lot,” Nadia said, “But that is beside the point. Take your kid and get home. Get him the potion as soon as you can, three times a day. Add some boo berry juice, it will not mess with the effects, but gives a better taste.”
“My roommate,” Eda said, giving Nadia a few snails for the abomination clay, “Not kid. And thanks”
Nadia gave her a puzzled look at the word roommate, but simply nodded, “Happy to help.”
.....
Eda stayed awake for most of the night. Nadia healed King enough he for him to have the energy to be grumpy and fussy. And bitey. Very bitey. Getting him to take the fever and cough medicine was harder than climbing the Knee naked in her opinion.
She didn’t give up, despite the small bite marks peppering her hands now. It’s better than him being all limp and whimpering, she tried telling herself. It didn’t make the whole process any less frustrating and she had to try really hard not to snap at him.
After a while, however, his fever kicked back in and he went back to limply lying on the sofa, while she continued doing what had to be done: brewing the potion as directed and wrapping and unwrapping King with the abomination cold packs. Finally, she managed to finish the few vials of potions and coaxed him to have one. It was a happy coincidence that boo berries were King’s favourite fruit.
She downed one vial herself as prevention and had to admit it tasted pretty good. She had the Ratworm Mould as a young child, but who knew with her curse? Maybe if the Owl Beast was not immune, she could still get it. By the morning, the third (almost) all-nighter in the row, the dark circles around her eyes had dark circles and she felt like she could fall asleep on her feet, but King’s fever started to come down and he peaked his eyes open.
“Feeling better, buddy?” She lightly scratched his back.
“A bit,” King muttered, leaning into her touch, “tired…”
“Yeah, of course you are. You haven’t had proper sleep in two days,” Eda yawned, “And neither did I. So, how about we each hit our respective hays and have a late breakfast slash lunch slash whatever meal in the day it will be?”
“Wiff exftpa cowndog nuggets?” King asked, his nose still stuffy.
“Huh, you remembered that,” Eda grumbled half-heartedly, “I guess that’s a good sign. Yes, with extra nuggets, happy?”
“Hm…hapfy…tired…”
“Yeah, I know. So, how about I take you to your basket, and I go to sleep in my nest, huh?”
King nodded tiredly and she took him into her arms and shakily walked upstairs to his designated room to place him in his basket. She had to pry him off herself but set him down in the end and took unsteady steps towards the bathroom. She was exhausted and felt feathers popping on her skin so she grabbed an extra elixir from one of her hallway stashes and downed it. The third one that day. Dang it, it was not that bad since her break-up with Raine, the worry for King was killing her.
“Owlbert, watch over him will you?” The palisman nodded but eyed her in an almost judgmental way.
“What?”
You watch over!
“I’m off to sleep, no way will he sleep in my nest any longer,” Eda yawned again, “Roommates don’t do that…”
Owlbert let out an offended hoot, an equivalent to a witch snort, as he flew out of the room, Not babysitter!
“Well, I ain’t one either!” She groused.
She washed her teeth briefly, decided to forgo brushing her hair and barely mustered enough will to change into her PJs. Finally, she stumbled to her nest and plopped into it. Just as she was about to fall asleep, her stomach knotted in guilt. Did she just put the little guy to sleep by himself after he was only now getting better? What if the fever returned overnight? What if he puked again? What if-
She groaned, but then the worst-case scenarios started to fill her mind and she got up so quickly she gave herself whiplash, and, slightly dizzily, rushed over to his room and found him, curled up in his basket, with his plushie.
“Eda?” He peaked his eyes open when she kneeled next to his basket.
“Come on,” she smiled at him, “You’re sleeping with me!”
“Weally?” His eyes widened as much as his tired state would allow it.
“Really! If you want, come on!”
“Mh-mm, I do! My dfeams were fcary last fewf nights,” King said, his voice a bit clearer, but still tired, “and I don’t want that again. Buff they afe leff fcary if I’m wiff you. ”
Well, that went straight to her heart and if there were any tears in her eyes, it probably had to do with her being so tired, right?
“Yeah, yeah, you had a bad fever, that’s why you had bad dreams. Ok, come on then,” as she got back to her feet, she gestured for him to hurry up, “Don’t make me change my mind, kiddo!”
He gave a very weak, but mildly excited, weh! and she was happy to hear it because there was none of them for the last two days. But as she saw him stumbling behind her, sagging, holding his plushie and dragging the blanket behind him her heart ached.
He was still so exhausted, and, in this state, he somehow looked even tinier. Curse her again, she was going soft!
“Ok, get here,” she crouched and picked him up. “Don’t have a whole night. We have maybe one hour of night left…” she muttered, looking at the dawn outside the window, as King happily curled up in her arms.
Told so, Owlbert hooted on her shoulder and she ignored him, knowing just how pointed and smug his face was. She walked to her nest and placed King into it first, then climbed in herself.
“You won’f get ffick?” King worried.
“Nah, don’t worry. I had Ratworm Mould as a kid. You have it once, you’re immune. Besides, I spent the last two days caring for your snotty butt, if I was supposed to catch it, I’d already be sick. So I think I’m fine.”
“Good,” King curled up next to Eda’s chest and something warm, unrelated to his still slightly feverish body pressed to hers, bloomed in her chest.
“Owlbert, get us a blanket,” she said, as she often slept without one. As the palisman carried one over, she placed it nicely so King was warm but not suffocating in his own heat.
“This is just for a bit, ok, till you get better,” she said to King, scratching the spot between his horns. He seemed to be very fond of that spot.
“Ok….” He muttered, clinging to her shirt, already drifting to sleep.
She felt needed. And that was terrifying, to be needed by someone so small and vulnerable.
Maybe you would be better off with someone else, Eda thought but wrapped her arm around King. She managed to keep him alive despite her many failings, and he seemed to feel comfortable around her. Maybe, just maybe she didn’t suck at this quite that much.
And, ok she didn’t hate having him around, it was nice. He was loud and a bit annoying and a pain in her butt, but he was also very sweet and a fairly smart kid. And she only grew fonder of him over this whole illness debacle. She wanted him around. And no, that was NOT a maternal feeling, not at all!
She wrapped her arms around him, as Owlbert curled up next to them an odd feeling of having family again overwhelming her. Aside from Owlbert, she didn’t feel as familial to anyone in a long, long time. At least not without complications, resentment, bitterness, and grudges. She wanted to dismiss it, but it wouldn’t leave. And she was too tired to try and fight it. So, she relaxed. King was exhausted too, they needed rest.
And maybe, just maybe, a small part of her wanted to believe that familial feeling…
She would deal with her stupid brain later.
“Sleep tight kiddo,” she yawned, scratching his head, “An’ don’t you dare wake me up at six…it’s in half an hour…”