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At first, Darius thought nothing about Hunter being late for their sewing lesson. He simply assumed that, like everybody else in the Castle, he was simply caught up in his own duties. It's not as if he wasn't guilty of being late here and there, so he wouldn't bring it up.
Still, he only had so much free time before somebody inevitably came looking for him.
Usually, he would just lock his chamber door and ignore anybody demanding an audience with him. Was that petty? Yes, but it worked so far so Darius wasn't going to change that any time soon. It also came in handy when he snuck off for rebellion meetings and research. Or he just teleported away, that also worked very well.
Actually, nothing stopped him from locking his door now and doing just that.
But, call it a sixth sense, but he got the feeling that he should stay put. Also, to leave his door unlocked. Just in case the Little Prince came by.
To keep his hands moving - and to put his mind at ease - he started working on a shirt he meant to finish. It was a simple enough project to both take his mind off of things, but wouldn't overwhelm him before the lesson.
If the Little Prince showed up, that is.
Which was becoming more and more unlikely as he glanced at the clock.
Well, at least he could say that he finished an old project so that was still time well spent. Still, he couldn't help that little nagging feeling that something was wrong.
Of course, something was wrong, he thought with a frown. The Day of Unity is turning out to be more malicious and deadly with every piece they uncover. And if he had to be honest, he should be out there trying to find a way to-
There was a knock on the door. Darius almost jumped out of his armchair.
"What do you want?" he decided to say, and he made sure to put enough malice into it to chase off any rookie scout. "If it's not important come back later."
"... It's me, Darius."
He tried to not show how relieved he felt when he heard that voice.
"But if it's not a good time-"
"Nonsense. Come on in."
He comes in with the same amount of caution no matter how many times he visits. He locked the door, - they talked about this before; he felt more comfortable this way. Then he opened his cape and let his palisman fly free.
Flapjack rushed over to the bowl of seeds Darius had laid out for him. Palismen didn't need food to survive, but they sure loved to indulge.
"Flapjack, manners," Hunter warned him.
In turn, the palisman looked up at Darius and chirped then his attention was solely on the seeds again. He assumed that was a 'thank you'.
"You're welcome," he chuckled.
Hunter sat down on the couch. Darius thought that he was keeping his distance. Also, he only took off his mask. Something that Darius regarded with some suspicion.
"I have to apologize for being late," he started. "I had to look through a stack of papers, I thought I would never finish," he chuckled, but it was clear that he was more tired than he let on.
"Did Kikimora send that stack over, by any chance?" Darius raised an eyebrow.
"...Yes."
"Then it could wait."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that."
"Don't be," Darius said before he started to take it too seriously. "You were just... doing your job."
Hunter nodded.
"Shall we start on our lesson then, Little Prince?"
Some enthusiasm returned to the boy, although Darius feared that he might topple over and fall asleep right then and there. His work was messier than before, and his hand shook a bit as he uncertainly practiced the sticking he showed him. Darius gently corrected him, but he couldn't lie, this wasn't normal exhaustion, something was very wrong here.
"Little Prince, are you tired?" Darius decided to ask. He might as well start prodding if he wanted answers.
"Oh, no not at all." An obvious lie if Darius heard any.
"But if you are mad at me for being late, or-"
"It would be foolish to be made over something that wasn't your fault," Darius said matter of factly.
Hunter blushed and looked away. "Right, of course."
"What I should have asked was, are you alright?" he continued. "Is there something wrong with your hand?"
Darius noticed that he was trying to avoid moving his dominant hand as much as possible. Hunter bit his lip instead of answering. That was enough of an answer for Darius. But then Flapjack turned to him and started vehemently chirping and nodding his head at Hunter. Well, that was a clear 'check on him' sign.
"Flapjack, shush!" Hunter tried to quiet the bird, but it only made him chirp louder. "Somebody could hear you."
"Is there something you are hiding, Little Prince?" Darius pressed.
"No," he said. "I already took care of it."
"So there is something."
"Well, uh," Hunter stammered trying to find an out.
"Show me, Little Prince," Darius suggested. He tried hard to not make it sound like an order.
Hunter seemed conflicted, but after a few nudging chirps from Flapjack, he eventually put down his sewing and pulled up his right sleeve. It was bandaged with a thick layer of gauze and a healing glyph slapped on top. It was tightly wrapped but it already started to bleed through.
He scoffed. "Like I said, I already fixed it. But it looks like it needs changing again," he moved to get up. "Now if you excuse me."
"Sit back down, Little Prince."
He seemed confused and surprised enough to do as he was told.
Darius got up and found his own healing kit - because he had crossed Hettie enough times to not want to go anywhere near her. Now it was going to come in handy.
"I can take care of it," Hunter protested as Darius sat down beside him.
"I know," Darius nodded, the wrapping was enough of a proof. "Will you allow me to do it this time?" He could only hope he seemed convincing enough.
Hunter glanced at his palisman. Flapjack nodded.
"Alright."
"Thank you," Darius said.
Hunter frowned. "I should be the one thanking you."
"You can when I am done."
Darius carefully unwrapped the gauze. He tried to be mindful of the injury underneath. It seemed fresh, three huge gashes similar to something a beast would make. They were deep enough to require serious stitching. Which the boy might have done on his own if the unevenness here and there was something to go by. But as far as Darius could judge, it was a neet work.
Darius frowned. Hunter hadn't been sent on wilderness missions the last time he checked. So what made these?
"Tough mission?" he asked but didn't hope for an answer.
Hunter only shrugged.
Right, he didn't know what he expected. Instead, he focused on the job at hand.
Hunter didn't want to look at him as he worked. He pulled some unpleasant faces when Darius dabbed some healing ointment into the wound, and then as he wrapped them back up. He finished it off with a fresh healing glyph.
Meanwhile, he tried not to think about what could have happened to the kid.
"Thank you," Hunter said before pulling away his arm and hiding it back under his cloak.
"You're welcome, Little Prince," he said, giving him what he hoped was an encouraging smile.
Despite that Hunter turned away. "Does this mean that our lesson is over?"
Technically speaking, yes it was. With his arm in this state, it wasn't advised to use it until he had more time to rest. But Hunter seemed genuinely upset that they had to stop. Thankfully, he had an easy solution for that.
"It's not advised to use that hand," he told the boy, "You should let it rest."
"I can do it," Hunter listlessly tried to defend himself. "I did paperwork all day, I had to write with this hand."
Darius cringed at that. "That had to be uncomfortable."
Hunter shrugged. "It didn't hurt that much."
He would have argued that having three huge gashes on your arm would make doing even the most mundane tasks uncomfortable but he kept that to himself.
"How about a compromise?" Darius offered.
"What do you have in mind?" Hunter raised an eyebrow at him curiously.
"I could show you some patterns. I can explain them to you and you can watch."
The boy frowned. "It's a more passive teaching style than what I am used to," he said with disappointment.
Darius shrugged. "I'm not going to have you hurt your arm while you are here. Observation is just as good of a teacher."
Hunter shrugged. "I can give it a try."
Darius couldn't help but think this was some sort of victory.
They arrived back home when Hunter gently tugged on Darius' cape.
"I think I sprained my wrist," he admitted quietly.
"Little Prince," Darius started. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"
He shrugged.
Right, Darius could come up with an answer on his own.
The Emerald Entrails just had their toughest game yet. They fought tooth and nail and the victory came down to one single flag that Hunter tied on in the last possible minute, winning them the match. Darius was so proud that he couldn't even put it into words. Now he was cursing himself because that had been several hours ago, as he and the other parents took the kids out for a celebratory dinner. He should have noticed something was wrong.
Darius ushered Hunter into the living room and made him sit down.
He sent an abomination off to fetch the healing supplies, meanwhile, he fretted over Hunter.
"I didn't know how to bring it up," he admitted after some prompting. "Everybody was so happy, and I was caught up in the rush of it all. I only noticed halfway through dinner that something was wrong."
"Why didn't you say something then?" he asked.
Darius gingerly took his injured hand and inspected it. It was swollen and he once again cursed himself. It was so noticeable, he didn't know how nobody saw it - how he didn't see it.
"I don't know," Hunter said with a shrug.
"Wait..." Darius stopped at a sudden realization. "Did you think that we are going to be mad at you for, I don't know, ruining the mood or something?"
Hunter suddenly found the corner very interesting, given how he avoided looking at Darius.
"Oh, Little Prince."
"It's not that bad," he tried to defend himself. "It's not like it's broken or something."
"It could have been."
"But it isn't."
Darius sighed but didn't push it. "If something like this happens you have to tell me next time."
Hunter nodded.
"Promise me, Little Prince."
"Alright," Hunter said in a quiet voice. "I promise to tell you if I am injured."
The abomination returned then and handed over the supply box with a proud smile on its face.
Taking care of a sprained wrist was nothing. A quick support and a wrap, crowned with a healing glyph would take care of it. They probably won't even need to call a Healing witch. But if it didn't get better that was still on the table.
"Sorry, again," Hunter started. "Didn't mean to... well, cause trouble or something," he shrugged. "I don't actually know what was going through my head."
Darius looked him over. He seemed genuinely apologetic and if he had to be honest, Darius had to be naive if he thought that they wouldn't have any hiccups along the way.
"You don't have to apologize."
Hunter shook his head. "I disappointed you, so..."
"Look at me," Darius said and waited until Hunter gathered whatever courage he felt he needed to face him. "You didn't disappoint me, Little Prince," he told him. "I'm worried for you. Yes, I was upset but that's on me, not on you."
"But-"
"Don't get me wrong. I would prefer if you came to me the moment you noticed something," he continued. "But I also understand that it doesn't come easy for you."
"...Yeah," Hunter agreed. "Believe me, I wish it was that easy."
"Can I hug you?" Darius asked.
Hunter gave him a small smile accompanied by a nod. "Yeah, that would be nice."
Darius wrapped his arms around the boy. He didn't know how he could go for so long without hugging him.
"I am here for you, Hunter. Alright."
"Alright."
"No more hiding things."
He nodded and buried his face in Darius' shoulder.
Not that long ago, Hunter would have pretended through the entire day until he managed to get his injuries treated by himself in secrecy. It took Darius a lot of work and convincing to get him to this level. So they are making progress. Slow progress, but it was better than nothing. All that mattered was that he was going to be alright now. And in the end, after everything they have been through, that was all Darius could ask for.
They will need to have a serious conversation about this tomorrow. That was something that Darius wasn't going to let go, that's for sure.