Fic Pt. 3
From that point on things were a lot better between then pair. Arguments became conversations (even if they were somewhat brief) as Arthur stopped regarding Allen as someone not to be trusted and in turn the brunet worked harder to try and understand him. There were still misunderstandings and the odd disagreement but for what little conversation they had over the next few days there was a noticeable improvement; and not simply because Arthur slept often.
There were still many questions the Prince had that remained unanswered though. How Allen had managed to fight off the monster still escaped whatever solution his mind had come up with. He had seen no use of magic while he’d fought the creature which left his strange and seemingly impossible fighting style. Often he wished to bring the topic with the young teen, but each time they got close enough in a conversation for him to ask about it fatigue would win and he’d be ushered back to rest (something he was much less offended by after his rescue).
But after several days of recovery he was doing well enough to even try sitting up--with Allen’s assistance, of course. He had no desired to repeat his earlier mistake of trying to do it alone. It was still ridiculously uncomfortable, but by then having to lie on his back was even worse. He felt far too stiff.
“Is it too uncomfortable?” Allen asked as he handed the blonde a water skin and sat back.
“Less so than lying down all the time, I can assure you,” the blonde shook his head. “I was starting to feel like an invalid, being bedridden for so long.”
“I’m honestly surprised you didn’t make things worse when you got up and moved around like that,” the brunet mused aloud after taking a drink from his own pouch and wiping off the back of his mouth with his sleeve. “You got lucky.”
“I think the ‘lucky’ part was more the fact that you showed up when you did,” he corrected dryly. “Just what were you going to do if you had come back a few minutes later?”
“I wouldn’t have come late,” Allen replied resolutely.
“Oh?”
“You could say I’ve got a sixth sense for these sorts of things,” he shrugged around a half-smile. “I promised Teidoll I’d keep you safe you know. I wouldn’t break that promise.”
Arthur just lifted a brow. “So it seems. I must admit you used a very strange fighting style. I’m not familiar with it.” He watched as the youth rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly.
“Well it’s not really a ‘style’ so much as just how I fight. I’ve never been taught formally or anything,” he admitted.
“It must be some form of martial arts,” Arthur insisted with a look of intrigue on his face. “You did not use a blade at all, and yet you cut it as if your arm was one.”
“Ah...” Allen looked to the side but Arthur looked at his left arm. It had been covered up once again with a glove and long-sleeve shirt, but he knew what he’d seen that day despite his ailments. A red limb, covered in the darker color of the monster’s blood...he’d never seen anything of the sort before. It had to have been some sort of deformity from what he could tell, but that still did not explain how he’d been able to cut through the monster’s body with such ease.
“If you do not wish to answer than simply say so,” he sighed eventually, the boy’s hesitation gnawing on the edges of his patience.
“Sorry...”
Arthur resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Do not apologize. Just stop hesitating all the time.”
“I don’t hesitate all the time,” Allen huffed, though he did look relieved. “I ran back right away as soon as I knew you were in trouble.”
Arthur gave him a skeptical sort of half-smirk. “What, your ‘sixth sense’ again?” The brunet laughed.
“Yeah, that. Anyway, you should try and eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”
The Prince made a face. “Let me guess. Fish?”
“Fish.”
“Perfect,” he drawled out sarcastically as the brunet held out the usual wooden bowl to him. It looked just as unappetizing as it ever did, but this time he actually eyed it for a few moments before opening his mouth and eating it, and it made the brunet grin widely. “It’s awful...”
“It’s food,” Allen corrected, “and pretty much all we have right now. So eat up! I’ve got some clean dressings for you too once you’re done.”
“I thought you said that friend of yours would be here soon,” the Prince replied, not really looking forward to anything the brunet had mentioned. “Shouldn’t he have arrived by now?”
“Well it was a ways away that he was traveling...and that’s only if nothing held him up,” the younger admitted. “To be honest I’m not sure when he’ll get back. Hopefully you’re right though, because we’re running low on a lot of supplies. I didn’t exactly pack to stay in one place for so long.”
“Then why don’t we simply move?”
Allen gave him a look. “Are you forgetting your injuries? We can’t go anywhere just yet.”
“And what happens if we run out of supplies while we’re stranded out here?” Arthur pointed out. “Because I really cannot take another day of your terrible cooking.”
“It’s not that bad,” he sighed. “We’ll just have to hold out for now.” He didn’t bother to add ‘I’ll go out and look for supplies’ into his sentence since the incident several days ago, and even more unnerving than that was the fact that when he’d finished caring for Arthur and gone back to check on the monster’s body is had vanished. Even the pieces he’d cut off were gone and there were no tracks leading anywhere. Whether it had escaped somewhere and was still alive or not he wasn’t taking any chances and remained stubbornly close to the blonde. Not that Arthur needed to know that for the time being; anytime he had to leave camp he simply left Tim with the Prince.
“And how much longer can we do that for?”
Allen scratched his cheek. “Eh...I think probably another few days. Teidoll gave me two weeks’ worth of medicine, so you should be fine until then since it’s been a little less than that. We lucked out on the small river being nearby.”
“...So we have plenty of food and water , but almost no medicine left,” Arthur sighed. “Just perfect.”
“It could honestly be a lot worse,” Allen said light-heartedly. “If you’d opened your wounds again we’d have even less than that.”
“That does not help.”
“Just relax Arthur,” the brunet lifted his hands defensively. “Things will turn out just fine. And anyway, I brought some water so you could clean yourself off before we change the wound. And it’s from the river, yes,” he added once he saw the Prince send him a leer. “It’s the best we’ve got out here.”
“All the more reason to return to Camelot. I have never missed something as simple as a warm bath before.”
Allen tried to keep from rolling his eyes as he moved to grab the bucket and plunk it down at the Prince’s side and dip a washcloth into it. “Like I said, best we have. Now take off your shirt.” The gray-eyed teen smiled wryly as Arthur (predictably) told him not to order him around. He still took off his shirt anyway though and Allen wrung out the cloth before handing it over; he had enough strength to take care of most of the work himself so really, it was just from the knees down that he was responsible for.
Naturally Arthur complained the whole time about the cold, and as soon as he moved onto the wound he continued but it was somehow easier to deal with. The Prince’s heart didn’t seem to be in his words and it made the brunet smile just a little as he worked on removing the old cloth wrapped about his stomach. Cleaning and applying the new ointment hardly took any time at all now that they seemed to have some degree of understanding between them now and they’d stopped arguing at every step of the way.
Most of the problems had come from Arthur recoiling away from his touch like he was some diseased animal so with that no longer happening he was able to work a lot faster and tie the strips of cloth off more securely, and with a look of satisfaction he grabbed the blonde’s shirt and held it up for him so that he could put his arms through. “There we go, much better. If it still hurts though you should tell me. I’ve got more of the sleeping drought left over.”
“Sleeping it off is the very last thing I want to do right now,” Arthur shook his head. “I’ve done far too much of that as of late.”
“Alright...” Allen sat back with a blink. “What do you want to do then? I think we’ve got enough water and firewood for the rest of the day so we’re pretty set all things considered.”
“I don’t suppose you have any books do you?”
“E-eh? Books? No, not...really. Why?”
Arthur sighed and looked over pointedly. “Because I’d like to read, obviously. Why else would I ask for one?”
“You have company right in front of you and all you want to do is read??” That was almost blatantly stating that he wanted to ignore him! Even if Arthur didn’t quite seem to understand that.
“What else would you have me do? It’s not as though I can do any training like this. Even if I wanted to I highly doubt you’d let me.”
Allen crossed his arms over his chest. “Of course I wouldn’t. And we could at least...I don’t know. Talk? I’ve told you lots about me but you still haven’t told me anything about you, really.”
“I told you I was a Prince.”
Allen tried hard not to heave out a sigh. “Whatever! I’m not interested in that sort of thing.”
“Then what were you talking about?”
“I don’t know... Just stuff in general. What do you do back home?”
For a moment Arthur paused, pursing his lips. Really the obvious answer was ‘my duties as a Prince’ but he doubted that was the kind of answer Allen was looking for. And in all honestly even now he wasn’t all that keen on talking about himself. Still, to not give any response at all to the one who had saved his life not once, but twice now... “I train. And try to maintain the general order of things.”
It still wasn’t quite the answer Allen had been looking for but it was better than he’d hoped, so he tried to be polite and inquire in some manner about the information he’d been given. “What sorts of things do you train in?”
“Many things.”
“Arthur...” he groaned.
“Small talk is not something I’m generally fond of, Allen,” he replied stubbornly as he settled back and watched Tim flutter over slowly to land on his shoulder. He made no moves to brush him off. “Idle chit-chat rarely produces anything fruitful.”
“This isn’t business Arthur...” the brunet sighed. “It’s just a regular friendly conversation. I’m just trying to be polite.”
“I think it would be more polite not to inquire into the private lives of someone you’re not well acquainted with,” the Prince lifted a brow.
“We’ve spent two weeks together now Arthur,” the brunet frowned. “I’d say we’re a little closer than acquaintances.”
“Surely you don’t consider us friends.”
“I did save you twice you know. Even if you’re not the easiest person in the world to get along with. I think that counts for something,” he replied with just a hint of amusement at the way the Prince’s gaze turned to a slight leer.
“If you wanted a reward for your services I can assure you my father will be more than happy to deliver.”
“Huh? Hey, I wasn’t trying to say that,” the brunet started. “I just meant that I wouldn’t mind being friends with you even if you’re a pain sometimes.”
“...You have a real way with words, don’t you?”
“I’ve been complimented on it from time to time.”
There were still many questions the Prince had that remained unanswered though. How Allen had managed to fight off the monster still escaped whatever solution his mind had come up with. He had seen no use of magic while he’d fought the creature which left his strange and seemingly impossible fighting style. Often he wished to bring the topic with the young teen, but each time they got close enough in a conversation for him to ask about it fatigue would win and he’d be ushered back to rest (something he was much less offended by after his rescue).
But after several days of recovery he was doing well enough to even try sitting up--with Allen’s assistance, of course. He had no desired to repeat his earlier mistake of trying to do it alone. It was still ridiculously uncomfortable, but by then having to lie on his back was even worse. He felt far too stiff.
“Is it too uncomfortable?” Allen asked as he handed the blonde a water skin and sat back.
“Less so than lying down all the time, I can assure you,” the blonde shook his head. “I was starting to feel like an invalid, being bedridden for so long.”
“I’m honestly surprised you didn’t make things worse when you got up and moved around like that,” the brunet mused aloud after taking a drink from his own pouch and wiping off the back of his mouth with his sleeve. “You got lucky.”
“I think the ‘lucky’ part was more the fact that you showed up when you did,” he corrected dryly. “Just what were you going to do if you had come back a few minutes later?”
“I wouldn’t have come late,” Allen replied resolutely.
“Oh?”
“You could say I’ve got a sixth sense for these sorts of things,” he shrugged around a half-smile. “I promised Teidoll I’d keep you safe you know. I wouldn’t break that promise.”
Arthur just lifted a brow. “So it seems. I must admit you used a very strange fighting style. I’m not familiar with it.” He watched as the youth rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly.
“Well it’s not really a ‘style’ so much as just how I fight. I’ve never been taught formally or anything,” he admitted.
“It must be some form of martial arts,” Arthur insisted with a look of intrigue on his face. “You did not use a blade at all, and yet you cut it as if your arm was one.”
“Ah...” Allen looked to the side but Arthur looked at his left arm. It had been covered up once again with a glove and long-sleeve shirt, but he knew what he’d seen that day despite his ailments. A red limb, covered in the darker color of the monster’s blood...he’d never seen anything of the sort before. It had to have been some sort of deformity from what he could tell, but that still did not explain how he’d been able to cut through the monster’s body with such ease.
“If you do not wish to answer than simply say so,” he sighed eventually, the boy’s hesitation gnawing on the edges of his patience.
“Sorry...”
Arthur resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Do not apologize. Just stop hesitating all the time.”
“I don’t hesitate all the time,” Allen huffed, though he did look relieved. “I ran back right away as soon as I knew you were in trouble.”
Arthur gave him a skeptical sort of half-smirk. “What, your ‘sixth sense’ again?” The brunet laughed.
“Yeah, that. Anyway, you should try and eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”
The Prince made a face. “Let me guess. Fish?”
“Fish.”
“Perfect,” he drawled out sarcastically as the brunet held out the usual wooden bowl to him. It looked just as unappetizing as it ever did, but this time he actually eyed it for a few moments before opening his mouth and eating it, and it made the brunet grin widely. “It’s awful...”
“It’s food,” Allen corrected, “and pretty much all we have right now. So eat up! I’ve got some clean dressings for you too once you’re done.”
“I thought you said that friend of yours would be here soon,” the Prince replied, not really looking forward to anything the brunet had mentioned. “Shouldn’t he have arrived by now?”
“Well it was a ways away that he was traveling...and that’s only if nothing held him up,” the younger admitted. “To be honest I’m not sure when he’ll get back. Hopefully you’re right though, because we’re running low on a lot of supplies. I didn’t exactly pack to stay in one place for so long.”
“Then why don’t we simply move?”
Allen gave him a look. “Are you forgetting your injuries? We can’t go anywhere just yet.”
“And what happens if we run out of supplies while we’re stranded out here?” Arthur pointed out. “Because I really cannot take another day of your terrible cooking.”
“It’s not that bad,” he sighed. “We’ll just have to hold out for now.” He didn’t bother to add ‘I’ll go out and look for supplies’ into his sentence since the incident several days ago, and even more unnerving than that was the fact that when he’d finished caring for Arthur and gone back to check on the monster’s body is had vanished. Even the pieces he’d cut off were gone and there were no tracks leading anywhere. Whether it had escaped somewhere and was still alive or not he wasn’t taking any chances and remained stubbornly close to the blonde. Not that Arthur needed to know that for the time being; anytime he had to leave camp he simply left Tim with the Prince.
“And how much longer can we do that for?”
Allen scratched his cheek. “Eh...I think probably another few days. Teidoll gave me two weeks’ worth of medicine, so you should be fine until then since it’s been a little less than that. We lucked out on the small river being nearby.”
“...So we have plenty of food and water , but almost no medicine left,” Arthur sighed. “Just perfect.”
“It could honestly be a lot worse,” Allen said light-heartedly. “If you’d opened your wounds again we’d have even less than that.”
“That does not help.”
“Just relax Arthur,” the brunet lifted his hands defensively. “Things will turn out just fine. And anyway, I brought some water so you could clean yourself off before we change the wound. And it’s from the river, yes,” he added once he saw the Prince send him a leer. “It’s the best we’ve got out here.”
“All the more reason to return to Camelot. I have never missed something as simple as a warm bath before.”
Allen tried to keep from rolling his eyes as he moved to grab the bucket and plunk it down at the Prince’s side and dip a washcloth into it. “Like I said, best we have. Now take off your shirt.” The gray-eyed teen smiled wryly as Arthur (predictably) told him not to order him around. He still took off his shirt anyway though and Allen wrung out the cloth before handing it over; he had enough strength to take care of most of the work himself so really, it was just from the knees down that he was responsible for.
Naturally Arthur complained the whole time about the cold, and as soon as he moved onto the wound he continued but it was somehow easier to deal with. The Prince’s heart didn’t seem to be in his words and it made the brunet smile just a little as he worked on removing the old cloth wrapped about his stomach. Cleaning and applying the new ointment hardly took any time at all now that they seemed to have some degree of understanding between them now and they’d stopped arguing at every step of the way.
Most of the problems had come from Arthur recoiling away from his touch like he was some diseased animal so with that no longer happening he was able to work a lot faster and tie the strips of cloth off more securely, and with a look of satisfaction he grabbed the blonde’s shirt and held it up for him so that he could put his arms through. “There we go, much better. If it still hurts though you should tell me. I’ve got more of the sleeping drought left over.”
“Sleeping it off is the very last thing I want to do right now,” Arthur shook his head. “I’ve done far too much of that as of late.”
“Alright...” Allen sat back with a blink. “What do you want to do then? I think we’ve got enough water and firewood for the rest of the day so we’re pretty set all things considered.”
“I don’t suppose you have any books do you?”
“E-eh? Books? No, not...really. Why?”
Arthur sighed and looked over pointedly. “Because I’d like to read, obviously. Why else would I ask for one?”
“You have company right in front of you and all you want to do is read??” That was almost blatantly stating that he wanted to ignore him! Even if Arthur didn’t quite seem to understand that.
“What else would you have me do? It’s not as though I can do any training like this. Even if I wanted to I highly doubt you’d let me.”
Allen crossed his arms over his chest. “Of course I wouldn’t. And we could at least...I don’t know. Talk? I’ve told you lots about me but you still haven’t told me anything about you, really.”
“I told you I was a Prince.”
Allen tried hard not to heave out a sigh. “Whatever! I’m not interested in that sort of thing.”
“Then what were you talking about?”
“I don’t know... Just stuff in general. What do you do back home?”
For a moment Arthur paused, pursing his lips. Really the obvious answer was ‘my duties as a Prince’ but he doubted that was the kind of answer Allen was looking for. And in all honestly even now he wasn’t all that keen on talking about himself. Still, to not give any response at all to the one who had saved his life not once, but twice now... “I train. And try to maintain the general order of things.”
It still wasn’t quite the answer Allen had been looking for but it was better than he’d hoped, so he tried to be polite and inquire in some manner about the information he’d been given. “What sorts of things do you train in?”
“Many things.”
“Arthur...” he groaned.
“Small talk is not something I’m generally fond of, Allen,” he replied stubbornly as he settled back and watched Tim flutter over slowly to land on his shoulder. He made no moves to brush him off. “Idle chit-chat rarely produces anything fruitful.”
“This isn’t business Arthur...” the brunet sighed. “It’s just a regular friendly conversation. I’m just trying to be polite.”
“I think it would be more polite not to inquire into the private lives of someone you’re not well acquainted with,” the Prince lifted a brow.
“We’ve spent two weeks together now Arthur,” the brunet frowned. “I’d say we’re a little closer than acquaintances.”
“Surely you don’t consider us friends.”
“I did save you twice you know. Even if you’re not the easiest person in the world to get along with. I think that counts for something,” he replied with just a hint of amusement at the way the Prince’s gaze turned to a slight leer.
“If you wanted a reward for your services I can assure you my father will be more than happy to deliver.”
“Huh? Hey, I wasn’t trying to say that,” the brunet started. “I just meant that I wouldn’t mind being friends with you even if you’re a pain sometimes.”
“...You have a real way with words, don’t you?”
“I’ve been complimented on it from time to time.”