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The sun has risen again and still his servant has not risen with it.
Ajaw floats near the bed as he eyes the lump buried under the blanket, the same lump that has now been there for a night, a day, and yet another night. He's tried kicking the lump to see if it moves but all he gets is silence and a more curled up lump, much to his annoyance.
"It was just a snotty child! You didn't even know it and yet here you are," he tries nudging Kinich again, anything to get a reaction out of him, "moping around like a lazy slob."
The last job Kinich took was supposed to be a simple one, a child that had gone missing in the forest for a bit. Children are easy to track so Ajaw expected him to be done with it in a few hours. But hours turned into a day. A day turned into three. And in the end Kinich had brought back to the village a corpse wrapped in a blanket. Kinich hasn't said a word since, not when the parents that hired him were taking the dead child from his arms, not even to ask for payment like he always does. He just left and went home, barely remembering to take his boots off before getting into bed where he has stayed since.
"This is getting ridiculous! Are you really just gonna let yourself go because of a failed job? What a pathetic servant you are..." The harsh words fall ceaselessly from the dragon's mouth as Kinich just buries himself further in his bed. That is until small hands tug the blanket off completely. "Come on. Up. You humans are fragile and I need you in peak condition for when I take that body for me."
For such a small creature Ajaw has always had impressive strength when he wants to, pulling Kinich up and along towards the kitchen, undeterred by the tired complaints coming from the body he's dragging.
"Now, where do you keep those awful offerings..." The little green dragon moves from cabinet to cabinet, leaving disorder in his wake before bringing an assortment of random snacks to the table where Kinch settled himself, slumping over the surface after accepting that he wasn't going to be able to return to bed before Ajaw was satisfied. He'd barely opened his eyes when an apple is being shoved in his face.
"Eat. I, the great K'uhul Ajaw, will not have such a pathetic human representing me as my vessel. I'm going through great lengths for such an unworthy creature so you better be thankful!" Ajaw watches as Kinich sighs and pushes the apple away, going back to staring blankly at the window. "Why you ungrateful-" He practically vibrates in anger before picking up the apple and slicing it into bits rather roughly. "Childish creature... Fine. If you're gonna act like this then I'll treat you so!"
That's about as much warning as Kinich gets before his head is pulled up by the bandana he's still wearing and Ajaw shoves a piece of apple in his mouth, not letting him go until he's swallowed it. Another one follows, and then one more, the gesture growing a bit less forceful as Kinich surrenders to the angry care, willingly opening his mouth as the dragon feeds him the apple.
A glass of water soon takes the apple's place on the table and this time Kinich grabs it without being forced, earning him an almost affectionate huff from Ajaw as he floats off to do something that Kinich doesn't have enough energy to ask about. He'd been staring at the last drops of water in the glass when a green figure blocks his view.
"You stink."
Kinich tries to be offended for all of three seconds before exhaustion forces him to accept the truth. He hasn't taken a shower since he left for that job and still has signs of his search in the forest all over him. Ajaw makes sure to remind him of that as he angrily pulls a leaf from his hair.
"I won't have my servant sully my image like this, come on." Once again Kinich is being dragged along his home by an irritated dragon. He finds that he actually doesn't mind that much, it gives him an excuse not to think, not to have to focus on where he's going and what he's doing.
But perhaps he should have focused at least a bit because next thing he knows Ajaw is complaining about his complicated attire while haphazardly removing the man's clothes.
"What are you doing...?" His voice is still weak as he tries to protest but like every other time today he just lets it happen, especially after noticing that Ajaw has brought him into the bathroom.
He doesn't complain as the dragon strips him bare and pushes into the shower while grumbling that he's getting skinny and needs to eat more so he has a good body for Ajaw to steal.
He doesn't complain as warm water is sprayed on his head, little hands somehow knowing just where to turn the knobs in the shower to get the temperature just how he likes it.
He doesn't complain as those same hands find his hair, now lathered with shampoo, untangling the knots and removing all the dirt while a string of curses and complains falls over him along with the water from the shower.
Kinich finds himself wondering how he got himself here, with a miniature Dragon Lord washing his hair while cursing at him for being such an incompetent human but he soon gives up making sense of it. All he cares about right now is that Ajaw's hands feel quite nice, the clawed digits scratch lightly on his scalp as he rinses the suds from his hair and while they don't feel particularly warm they tingle with static on Kinich's skin as they trail downs his chest and shoulders, ridding of the evidence of the past few days.
He only notices it's over when a towel falls over his eyes as Ajaw tries to somewhat dry his hair.
"The almighty K'uhul Ajaw, playing servant to a human that can barely drag himself out of bed... The fates must be having quite the laugh right now." The towel is left on his shoulders while the dragon floats off, leaving Kinich to finish drying himself while he procures something for the human to wear.
Some minutes of struggling later Kinich is finally dry and dressed, feeling more like a human than he has all week. He ends up walking outside and sitting on the soft grass in front of his house. Sensing Ajaw setting himself beside him brings a smile to his lips, the first one since that job.
"Thank you." The words tumble softly from his lips as he allows his hand to find the dragon's head, feeling the static under his fingers as holds it there, surprise and satisfaction mixing together once Ajaw doesn't pull away for once.
"Save your thanks, human, I'm just ensuring the quality of my vessel." The words feel particularly weak today in the face of all that has happened, more of a blatant lie than usual and the twitch in his tail shows that he noticed it too.
The grass if soft under him and the sun feels warm on his skin, his body too relaxed and cared for to stop the warmth invading his tone as he closes his eyes and lets himself soak up the moment.
"I know."