mods please delete

[quiche cat!]

xxxxxxThere was definitely a possibility that the poor boy fell and hit his head, just as he claimed he had; if his hesitation and lengthy periods of thought didn't convince someone, then what would? There was also a possibility that he was trying to think of ways to lie, but what could he possibly gain from that? No matter how you looked at the situation, the boy was pretty beat up. If Boris was him, he'd just want to get healed as soon as possible and get out of this village. For all they knew, he belonged in the castle! It was pretty hard to tell, though, considering he had no clothes on. Boris figured that Heath must have successfully casted one spell, then, since the material of the cloth that the boy was wearing wasn't common in the village. As Boris became lost in thought for a moment, he had to refrain from bursting out laughing as he played out what must have happened in his head. Knowing Heath, he'd try to heal the kid... And probably mix up the couple syllables he normally did, in turn casting a "blooming" spell instead of a "healing" one. Typical Heath: his poor, useless apprentice.

xxxxxxOnce Boris realized the boy was still speaking, he snapped back to reality, taking a glance at Heath to see if he was paying attention. In fact, he was; Heath's eyes were now open and trained on the injured boy, not missing a single detail of the boy's explanation. "Let's say I believe you. What's in it for us, huh? Why should we give you clothes and heal you?" Heath spit fire at the undeserving boy, causing Boris to lean over and flick his forehead. He yelped in dismay at his mentor's abusive behavior.

xxxxxx"What Heath means to say is, 'Sure, we're nice, friendly people so we'll give you clothes and heal you... For free!'" Shifting his weight so he could easily reach Heath, Boris got a good grip on his student's ear and, without so much as an ounce of mercy, hauled the boy to his feet and towards the front door. "There! Now, out you go! Get a nice pair of clothes for the injured boy to repay him for your rudeness." Boris sneered as he gave Heath a specific set of orders, obviously enjoying his 'good guy' role. Heath, on the other hand, was devastated that he had assumed the 'bad guy' role in this situation, and with much reluctance he marched out the door. Thankfully, his house was only few houses down. 'Damn you, Boris.'

xxxxxxFinding pleasure in Heath's defeat, Boris smiled brightly as he turned back to the stranger. "He's really not all that bad. You must've done something that really got on his nerves-- lucky you!" Boris joked light-heartedly, the smile still remaining on his lips. The next moment, it had vanished and been replaced by the smallest of frowns. This could've looked like two things to the boy: a state of being genuinely perplexed, or dissatisfaction with the situation at hand. It was up to the boy to decide, because either expression would apply. "But in all seriousness, as a mage, I've got built-in lie detectors. It's not everyday that someone just... Falls. You get me?" His gaze remained steady as he stared at the boy, almost challenging him to refute his statement.

xxxxxxBefore Boris could interrogate any further, Heath flung open the front door, a small bag in tow. This of course caught Boris off guard, and almost frantically, his lips curled upward in a sly grin. "Oh, welcome back--!" Without hesitation Heath chucked the bag at Boris, hitting him square in the face. Blood splurted from his left nostril as he collapsed onto his knees, moaning in pain. "What the hell? I didn't deserve that. I was just trying to get some information out of him my way, that's all!!"

xxxxxxShooting Boris a look of disapproval that a mother might give to her son, Heath shook his head, sighing dramatically. "'We're nice, friendly people.'" He jokingly mocked, screwing up his nose in disgust before turning to the probably very confused boy. "Anyways, here," Heath had bent down to pick up the bag, and now calmly handed it over to the boy. "There might be some blood on that, my apologies, but the clothes are clean. They might—I mean, they'll probably—be a little big on you." But what, was he going to complain again about Heath's hospitality? For sure, he wasn't! Deciding that he could forgive this boy for now, no matter how little he trusted him, Heath gestured towards one of the doors branching off of the room, signaling that he could change in there.

[korvid]

////

////They hadn’t fully believed him and they clearly didn’t trust him, that much Lukcas could discern from watching the faces of both individuals as his explanation came to a close. He’d expected that though and it wasn’t as if being distrusted was an unfamiliar circumstance. Lukcas would simply work on his lie after his head was no longer throbbing and he could think clearer. No part of him believed these people could in any way outsmart him when he was at his best and he could always build upon his lie later.

////The boy who was clearly taking issue with his very existence brought up a good point though, as he spat angrily in Lukcas’s direction, what was in it for them? The fulfillment felt by helping him seemed like payment enough in his own mind, it wasn’t every day one had the honor of saving someone's life, much less a princes'. In truth though, he had nothing to offer them in exchange for practically saving his life and that fact bothered him slightly. As a royal, he had immense wealth to his name but he’d forsaken that when he’d decided to run away and thus he was as broke as they come. That was a… new concept to say the least. Just before he’d enacted his plan he’d taken with him enough gold to make sure he could get as far away from the kingdom as possible while still being able to get by comfortably, but all his foresight had been wasted when he’d woken in that field to find that all of his clothes and possessions had either burnt up or been dropped. Lukcas hadn’t exactly planned for living without said gold and hadn’t yet gotten a chance to figure out what to do from here. Should he run away as soon as he’d been healed? That seemed like his best option but it would also serve to raise a new set of problems for him. For one, he had no clue where he was. He knew the general area in terms of its proximity from the castle but no exacts when it came to nearby towns or roads- he’d most definitely get lost or find himself defenseless against anyone, or anything that sought to do him harm. His second option was to stay and gather as much information as possible from these people while also risking the chance of being found out. A far less desirable option but a safer and smarter one for sure.

////All of this went through his mind as he watched the interaction between the mage and the boy who he now knew was named ‘Heath’. These two had an odd relationship, to say the least, it was somewhat amusing to watch really. The mage turned back to him a moment later, apologizing for the boy in a way that suggested to Lukcas that perhaps the two were siblings, or at least the older man felt responsible for the actions of the other. His smile was bright one moment, then gone the next, an indication to Lukcas that the situation presented to the man was obviously less than ideal. Lukcas felt a pang of worry in his chest, a feeling that only grew when the man continued to speak making it all too clear that Lukcas’s lackluster lie was truly in need of fixing if he really where to stay here for a while and bide his time. The prince met the mage’s steady gaze with one of his own, a rebuttal on the tip of his tongue yet trapped in his throat by a sense of rising anxiety. So when the boy, Heath, flung the door open and simultaneously the bag full of clothes at the man in front of him Lukcas found it tremendously difficult to not break down laughing out of a complicated mixture of relief and panic.

////Lukcas took the clothes gingerly when handed to him, part of his brain still wholly frazzled from the interaction he’d just witnessed, a confused grin cutting his lips in a way he hoped didn’t look too dopy. Indeed he was so frazzled he didn't even bother to respond, just followed the boy’s gesture in the direction of where he could change and closed the door behind him. The prince wasted no time in changing into the clothes he’d been given, all the whilst wincing both because the fabric kept scraping against at his cuts and how at cheaply made the clothes felt. As baggy as they were he quickly attempted to fix that issue by rolling up the sleeves to his elbow, and tucking the bottoms of the pants into the boots he’d surprisingly fit into better than he’d expected. Not a perfect fit, or one he was happy about, but at least he had clothes now. His hair came as an afterthought, one brought on by accidentally glancing into a mirror that he hadn’t noticed was there until he’d stopped to take a look at his surroundings. He looked horrible, and that was honestly an understatement. Smoke coupled with high winds had really done a number to his poor hair as it was knotted and tangled beyond belief blown back at odd angles, and parted completely wrong. Even a bit singed at the tips he noticed as he leaned toward the mirror in horror. Hell, he looked like he’d been in a fire just from the bit of soot still stuck to his face. No wonder they didn’t believe him! “Fell” didn’t even begin to explain away how messed up he looked. Lukcas did his best to fix his hair by running his fingers through it repeatedly until his scalp burned from having been tugged at. The results for his effort were far from ideal but good enough, he’d need a bath and good brush to fix it completely.

////With only an ounce of hesitation Lukcas stepped out of the room as soon as he was done, gaze traveling around the small building more so than directed at the two people. It was odd that he felt slightly more embarrassed now than he had when he’d been naked and partially unconscious, weird how that worked.
////“So, magic healing. How’s that going to work?”

[quiche cat!]

xxxxxxAs the frail boy made his way into one of the guest rooms, Boris took this chance to return Heath's unwanted favor: with a flick of his wrist and a menacing glare towards his apprentice, Boris sent a volley of blasts of wind in his general direction, sending the unsuspecting boy straight into a wall. The glass ornaments just above Heath's head began to rattle and soon shattered into millions of pieces, either due to impact or the force of the wind. Tiny shards rained down on him, creating little, burning slices in his clothes and all over his skin. "BORIS!" was all Heath managed to yell, his voice strained as he slumped against the wall, rubbing his aching head and trying to recover from the sudden attack. Similarly to Boris, blood now dribbled from his nose, and he swiped at it with the back of his hand. This left a red smear that Boris couldn't help but laugh at, coupled with the crazily-blown look that his hair had assumed after being whipped around by gusts of wind.

xxxxxx"Aw, don't be so upset. You look good!" Boris sneered, walking over to Heath and ruffling his messy hair. In the process of doing so, Boris had recited a spell in his head that created a soft green glow which instantly engulfed his apprentice. A few moments later, as it dissipated into thin air, Heath's wounds were nowhere to be seen. His shirt and pants still remained tattered, and his hair was almost as wild as the injured boy's, but his nose had ceased its bleeding and his headache had disappeared. Although it was a cruel way to playfight, this was often what the two mages did, since they could cover up all signs of roughhousing by using healing spells. Or, at least, Boris could cover up all signs if roughhousing, since Heath obviously hadn't mastered that skill yet. Not knowing whether it was appropriate to be angry or thankful, the boy swatted Boris's hand away, grumbling a few incoherent words to himself as he stood up and brushed himself off. Fantastic. Now he'd have to sweep up all this glass because he knew very well that Boris wouldn't do it himself.

xxxxxxHeath had been walking past the guest room when the door swung open, revealing a fully clothed—yet still injured—boy. He looked... Better, but a bit awkward. Heath wasn't sure if it was because he'd never seen him in clothes before, or if it was because the clothes were his, or maybe because they were a bit too big for the small boy. Whatever the reason, Heath didn't stop walking as he took one measly glance at him, innocently continuing on his way without a word. He was heading towards a closet where he pulled a broom out of, returning to the main room in seconds and starting the painstaking task of finding all of the glass pieces before someone accidentally stepped on them. Boris had resumed his leaning stance in one of the doorways, and the injured boy had begun to inspect his surroundings. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to look at. "Boris is going to make it work. Well, he will, but only after you help us with something." Heath hadn't consulted Boris about this yet, but the man remained silent, so Heath took that as approval. "Actually, he'll heal you halfway, and once you've helped us, he'll finish the job and even help you get home. Deal?"

xxxxxxHeath had finally finished cleaning up the mess that Boris had made, and as he set the dust pan full of glass to the side, he straightened up and glanced over at the boy. Honestly, what did he have to lose? His dignity? It wasn't as if he was a knight, or a royal, so it didn't really matter what he did. As a matter of fact, Heath would be baffled if the boy refused. After all, it was a simple task: every month the mages took a trip to the castle to collect herbs and new spell scrolls from the Head Magician that resided there, as well as random things that their fellow villagers asked for. It was hell to carry it all, so another set of hands would be extremely useful... Even though the boy looked like a weakling. They just didn't ever want to bother the villagers with something like this, since they were all working hard at their own jobs. Heath didn't recognize this boy, so he must be from a neighboring village. In that case, he could care less whether or not the boy had better things to do at home. He'd have to stay until his debt was repayed in full!