Not While I\'m Around

[w0rmy]

All the sounds that Dee was previously making had stopped. His eyes were wide. His chest still… he couldn’t believe what had just happened. A frightening amount of blood gushed out of Blake’s mouth and it brought back a horrible memory. It reminded Dee horribly of how his mother died. Blood spewed from her mouth just like Blake had done previously… did this mean he had tuberculosis? No! That couldn’t be possible, the boy didn’t suffer from the symptoms! That paranoid thought however, was pushed back down upon seeing Galen stick his fingers into Blake’s mouth. It couldn’t be tuberculosis! Dee began to breath again but refusing to tear his eyes away from Blake. Everything that has happened tonight, that scene disturbed Dee the most.

Dubhdara on the other hand, was only a bit surprised. He didn’t expect such a large amount of blood to cascade from that little body. And anyway, there other things which disturbed his thoughts. Even though Julius’s grasp on his doublet was tight, Dubhdara still attempted to loosen it. Of course, the attempt only ended in failure. “Brodwick. Dee is my property. I can do whatever I please to my property. If am not pleased with it, I can discard or even destroy it.” The man attempted to move again but he wasn’t strong enough. “And I hope, we’re quite aware of the saying. ‘What I create, I can also destroy’.” Nothing else was said for Dubhdara thought it was an excellent way to end a statement.

“J-Julius.” Dee stammered, loosening his grip on the knight. Even though he was upset that Galen didn’t try to stop Dubhdara, he still liked the Doctor. “Julius, I need help. Just… just let him look at me. I trust him.” Even though the sentence had been short, it had taken quite a bit of effort. A few more tears slid down his cheeks but this time, he palmed them away. It was humiliating crying like this, in front of all these prying eyes! Also, another reason why Dee felt humiliated is because… because these wounds were not that bad. It was just the fact is father did them, it just made every thing ten times worse.  “Is B-Blake alright? He-there was blood gushing from his mouth.”

[DoTheLimbo]

The doctor watched as Dubhdara and Julius snapped at each other with harsh words. Galen glanced over to Dubhdara. He felt a tad twinge of annoyance at the man’s words. While Galen was use to abuse in families, he hated the reason of ownership and property to justify the means. He glanced towards Dubhdara, almost considering telling the other to shut it but he caught himself when Julius spoke towards him. Galen met Julius’s glare with a steady expression. He frowned a tad at Julius’s words. His chest constricted, remembering the strength of the other man that he was looking at. However, Julius was just acting in shock at the moment. Galen looked back at Dee. This was the doctor’s time to help. He was no help during battles, but the aftermath was his job. While he hadn’t done anything during the beatings, Galen decided that he was going to help with the boys’ injuries. A sense of regret came over the doctor, wishing he wasn’t so physically weak as he responded to Julius, “You’ll let me touch him if you want to avoid him dying from blood loss.” Galen doubted that Dee was close to blood-loss death but he said it to create more of a dramatic affect for Julius to hand over Dee.

Blake stared into the liquid of his goblet, his senses slowly returning to normal. A throbbing pain was spasming through his muscles. Taking another sip of water, he immediately spit it out. Glancing at the little puddle of mixed blood and water, Blake took a shuddering breath. He glanced over to see his father facing the newcomer. Blake finally took a look at the knight, he had no idea who it was but he felt a sharp jealously at how well the man was protecting Dee. Standing up, he winced at the pain the sudden movement caused through his legs. He instantly stumbled over, to lean against the table. Blake was hardly able to hold himself up. Once Julius addressed him, Blake was taking short gasps of breath and trying to keep standing. He stared at the knight before his lips pouted. Blake snapped towards the other, “No. And, don‘t call me curly.” He didn’t give a reason because he truly didn’t have one. The boy was in so much pain and was so irritable that his ‘no’ was merely one of stubborn defiance.

Galen glanced towards his son, before speaking up, “Sit back down, Blake.” He hadn’t meant for it to sound as if he was telling Blake not to go with Julius, he just didn’t want the boy to faint from overexertion. He looked back at Dee as the boy stammered. His expression changed to one of concern. Yet he was also relived that Dee had spoke to Julius. He hoped that would quell the knight’s hatred for him for at least a little bit. The man bought his hand to his sleeve and expertly ripped it off to create a length of fabric. He held out his palm for Dee, “Give me your hand.” He spoke, trying to ignore Julius and Dubhdara at the moment. At Dee’s question, he glanced back at Blake before answering, “He’s fine.”

[ravery]

Julius bit down hard on his tongue at Dubdhara\'s words, feeling something familiar and dangerously hot starting to make its way up into his chest. He had no doubts that the other man was absolutely insane, and wanted nothing more than to see him hanged, drawn and quartered, but that would require letting Dee go and Julius wasn\'t prepared to do that just yet. “Property?” he snapped,  scowling darkly at the other man, “You don\'t own him any more than piece of shit owns the boot it\'s stuck to.” He tightened his hold on the back of Dee\'s vest before shoving Dubdhara forward with his other hand, a growl edging into his voice. “And I\'d like to see you just try.”

Glancing back down at Galen as the doctor spoke up again, Julius stopped, holding onto Dee tightly and trying his hardest to ignore the sudden lurching in his stomach at the possibility that the boy might be even more hurt than he appeared. As far as he could see, the boy only had a black eye and a wounded hand, but then again, who knew how long Dubhdara had been beating him? The other boy on the opposite side of the room had left an extraordinarily large amount of blood on the floor for such a thin child, and there was the chance that his innards had been severely damaged. However, despite Galen\'s insistence that he wanted to help, Julius still didn\'t trust the man as far as he could throw him. “If you\'re so intent on helping him,” the knight said, “why didn\'t you stop our fine Lord here before?”

Tightening his hold on Dee\'s doublet gently and making sure there was enough room for him to pull the boy back in case Galen tried anything, Julius then blinked as Dee spoke up, eyes widening a little at the boy\'s words. Okay. Now he was really confused. Julius couldn\'t for the life of him understand why the squire was telling him to allow Galen near him, and he certainly couldn\'t understand why Dee would actually trust the man. Resolve wavering a little, Julius\'s glare deepened, before he blinked and looked up, raising his eyebrows slightly as he saw the other boy leaning against the table with a decidedly sullen look on his face for someone so pale.

Rather bewildered at the way both boys were reacting, he paused for a second before nodding slowly, relaxing his hold on Dee a little and watching both Dubdhara and Galen with a large amount of caution. As much as he loathed the other man\'s behaviour, Dee was far more important to him, and if the doctor was able to make sure his squire would be alright, then his anger would have to wait. “... All right,” he conceded, watching both men warily. “But no funny business.”

[w0rmy]

Dubhdara grunted when Julius shoved him forward. He hadn’t expected but recovered quick enough so he wouldn’t fall on his face. He stood up, brushing off any stray dirt before finally straightening his collar. “My my, what language.” Dubhdara taunted, his lips curled into a mean smile. Even though he appeared to be calm, his insides were going wild. He had not expected the night to end like this but then again who would? The lord winced a little when movement was applied. Those scratches fucking hurt! It was as if the boy had… had nails of steel! Dubhdara sighed and looked over his shoulder, just in case to see if anyone was walking their way. Perhaps now would be a good time to call his enforcer to get rid of everyone.

Meanwhile, Dee looked back over to Blake. He looked so pale! Even though Doctor Galen had said that his son was still fine, he couldn’t help but feel worried. Even though there was a great deal of concern running through Dee’s mind, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of annoyance. Why did Blake say that? Why? What on earth possessed him to say such a thing? “Julius.” The squire took a deep breath, gently squeezing the man’s shoulders. Even though Dee completely understood Julius’s suspicions, the knight had to realise that the doctor wasn’t an evil man. “He won’t do anything.”

As Dee offered his hand, he couldn’t help but snatch another glance at Blake. He opened his mouth to speak however, it appeared that Dubhdara has returned to earth. “People. I would love to chat but I have a lot of work to do tomorrow. If you’re not out by…” He glanced at nearby candle. It was nearly dead. “By the candle has finished, I’ll get my enforcer onto you. If you’re lucky, you might retain all your limbs… that is, if you’re still here.” The man shrugged and turned, “And please don’t follow me. I’m very tired and I’m sure you don’t want to meet Mr. Enforcer just yet. So,” Dubhdara saluted and turned, “Evenin’ all.”

[DoTheLimbo]

Galen watched Julius seem to struggle with the idea of handing Dee over. He glanced down at Dee. The doctor listened to Julius’s question. He glanced at the knight before looking back to Dee. Galen didn’t give an answer. He wasn’t even going to try and discuss his reasons towards the knight. The doctor already knew that words didn’t work very well to persuade Julius.

As Dee gave his hand to Galen, the doctor gently took it instantly wrapping the cloth he had ripped from his sleeve around the stab wound. He listened to Julius’s rather disgruntle compromise before nodding. Galen watched the wound as he wrapped it up tightly. The fork had not gone all the way through, but some nerves had been hit and Galen wouldn’t have been surprised if Dee would have difficulty moving his hand for the next month or so. He brought his gaze to survey the boy’s face now. Placing his fingers gingerly on the other’s cheek, he felt for any broken bones. There was major bruising but he didn’t find anything broken in. His hands move slowly down the other’s neck being very gentle as he felt around the boy’s body for any hidden injuries. Galen stayed quiet, focused on his work.

Blake gasped against the table still, moving slowly down it towards the others. Taking a moment to catch his breath again, he slumped more against the table. He glanced over to the group. He noticed Dee looking towards him with a concerned expression. The boy stared back at Dee. He felt a bit of regret for how the whole thing had played out. Blake had not expected Dubhdara to go after Dee. He had hoped that the man would go after Galen instead. Upset that Galen didn’t even have a scratch on him, Blake fell to his knees not bothering to travel any farther. Hot tears ran down his bruised cheeks. He didn’t bother to look as Dubhdara spoke. However, when he heard the polite tone he couldn’t help but shake with anger. Spinning on his knees, he glared at the lord. He wanted to yell at the other but his brain couldn’t think of any words and his body was too weak to do anything more. So instead he merely continued to cry, frustrated and exhausted.

[ravery]

There was a moment of silence that was only punctured by the soft, shuddering breathing of both boys, and Julius found it as deafening as any battle cry. The other boy- Blake, was it?- was still crying and shaking slightly, and despite his dismissal, the knight was still worried about him. He had, after all, lost a lot of blood.

Watching the other boy for a moment more, he then turned his attention back to the squire by his side. As Galen checked Dee over, his mouth pulled down into a frown as his old suspicions about the other man stirred to life again. The doctor\'s hands were lingering just a little too long on the boy\'s body for Julius\'s comfort. Pushing the small voice in the back of his mind down as it whispered about jealousy about the possibility of Galen being right about him, Julius shifted his weight from his left foot to his right absently, starting to grow rather restless. This was not going to end well if he let his old temper get the better of him.

Breathing out slowly, the knight blinked, raising an eyebrow in disdain as Dubhdara struggled before finally pushing himself up. The man was actually threatening them? Continuing the pretense of civility and politeness? He didn\'t know whether to laugh or take a swing at him. Deciding on neither, he shook his head, jaw clenching. This is why he hated staying near Oberon. It seemed that the closer you were to the King\'s court, the more likely you were to become a psychotic son of a bitch. “This isn\'t over, Dubhdara,” he said quietly, watching as the red headed man winced at the scratches the other boy had left with a rather large amount of satisfaction. “You can\'t just expect to get away with this sort of horse shit.”

Tightening his arm over Dee\'s shoulder gently as the squire did the same, Julius turned his attention back to the boy, pausing for a moment before swallowing slightly. There was still the possibility that his squire was still hurt, and to say he was worried was like saying the sky was blue. “... Is he alright, Galen?” he asked, avoiding the doctor\'s title without even thinking.

[w0rmy]

Without Dubhdara presence, Dee felt better. Even though both his breathing and heart rate had slowed down, it would take a while for everything to completely settle. Even so, the grip on Julius did not cease. Dee did not move while Galen checked over his wounds. It was enjoyable feeling the contrasts between his hands and Dubhdara’s. The doctor’s hands were so soft and gentle while his father’s had been rough and hard. A little shiver ran through his body at the thought. He hoped Dubhdara would never do that again but that was only foolish wishing. It was going to happen again, it always happened. The only time it will stop when either one of them dies.

Dee sighed deeply, his shoulders rising and then slowly falling. Tonight was not finished yet. There was a little feeling deep in his belly that Julius wanted to talk about what happened tonight, other things too. What other things? Dee’s rather ‘active social life’. The boy was quite surprised with Julius’s ignorance. It was going to be awkward telling him everything. Dee absentmindedly clenched his hand. “Aah.” New tears rolled down his cheeks. He had forgotten about his wound. It didn’t bleed this time thanks to Galen’s home-made bandage.

Dee sighed heavily again and looked at the candle his father previously pointed out. Time was running out. “Doctor Galen, Blake will be okay? There... there was quite a lot of blood. It… it was not from the lungs right? No split blood vessels?” Even though the boy had doubted it was tuberculosis, he still wanted to ask.

[DoTheLimbo]

Blake wiped his cheeks off with his palms. He sat back on his bottom, sniffing and gasping as he tried to regain a steady pace of breathing. His mouth had a strong taste of blood in it, and Blake could now feel that a chunk of his tongue was missing as well as the inside of his cheek. A nauseous feeling overwhelmed him as he realized he must have swallowed the large amount of flesh from his cheek. Putting a hand over his stomach, he heaved again, but nothing came from his mouth except a tiny bit of blood. Closing his eyes as if that would solve everything, he tried to balance his emotions.

Galen’s hands had examined Dee’s shoulders, chest, ribs, hips, legs and ended at the boy’s ankles. Running his thumb in a circle against Dee’s ankle, he looked up at the other to see if the boy was calming down. As he looked at Dee, a wave of guilt overcame the doctor. Bringing his hand back to Dee’s knee, he ran his thumb over that joint as well. He whispered softly, ignoring the fact Julius was right there, “I’m sorry, Dee.” Galen apologized sincerely, his expression showing the guilt that was tormenting him inside, “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

He kept his hand on Dee’s knee for a rather lingering second before breaking his concentration to look towards Julius. This time when he spoke, his voice was in his steady business tone, “He’ll be alright. There will be major bruising around the face, the nerves in his hand are damaged, he’ll be weak from bloodloss for the next day or so. Water and trecles are very important to regain recovery.” Galen glanced at Dee before looking back at Julius, “No over-exerting physical activities for at least two weeks.”

Blake had steadied his crying, breathing heavily. His legs felt numb and when he went to stand up, he swayed from lack of balance. Staying standing, despite swaying now and then, his bloody lips pouted. The boy glanced down at his hands, his palms were covered in Dubhdara’s blood. Bits and chunks of flesh had wedged themselves in his fingernails. A disgusted expression appeared on his face, but at the same time he felt a tad satisfied that he had gotten injuries on the other.

Galen brought his gaze to Dee as the boy asked about Blake. He was curious when he heard such specific worries. Galen, however, recognized those worries immediately. So many families, noble or peasant, had experienced tuberculosis with someone close they knew. It was a nasty illness. He glanced over at Blake. That kid was still standing. He just wouldn’t stop, Galen had no idea where the boy got his stubbornness from. Galen’s wife was stubborn, but she backed down if she had to be courageous or fight. His gaze lingered on Blake. He felt a tad guilty that he didn’t feel more regret for his son, but his thoughts rationalized Blake’s injuries to Blake’s actions. Blake had seemed to request something to happen, and the boy got what he wanted. “He’ll be fine, while there might be minor internal injuries most of the blood came from the inside of his ch…” His words faded out as he looked back at Dee. He remembered the two boy’s ‘footsie’ under the table that he saw. As he regained this memory, he stared at Dee before looking back at Blake. He didn’t say anything on the manner however. Not yet anyways.

[ravery]

Shifting uneasily, Julius attempted to concentrate on Dee\'s tight grip on him instead of the sick, constricting feeling in his chest. From the other side of the room, where Blake was standing, there came the dry, rasping sound of retching, and glancing up at the other boy, Julius\'s stomach did another lurching twist. The child was clearly in a lot of pain, and as afraid as Julius was for Dee\'s safety, he couldn\'t understand why Galen wasn\'t showing more concern for Blake.

Looking back down at the doctor- and, more specifically, those long, delicate fingers- Julius frowned, settling his hand on the back of Dee\'s shoulder, squeezing the boy gently. The corners of his mouth tightened a little at the look on apologetic expression on the other man\'s face, finding it rather difficult to believe that Galen was genuinely feeling guilty for his inaction.
Then again, Julius\'s bias was always going to cloud his judgement, and he was more than aware of this. He\'d all but made his mind up about Galen, regardless of how unfair he knew it was.

At least the doctor hadn\'t tried anything untoward.

Giving Dee\'s shoulder another squeeze, he tugged the boy towards himself gently, not wanting Galen any closer than was absolutely necessary. He relaxed a little when the doctor said that Dee was going to be alright, giving a small sigh of relief before nodding absently at Galen\'s recommendations. Julius had no intentions of letting the boy out of his sight for the next few days anyway,  if he could help it.

Raising an eyebrow slightly as Dee shifted against his side, he blinked, rather surprised at how specific the boy had been when he\'d asked Galen about Blake\'s symptoms. He had not expected someone that young to even know the signs of tuberculosis, let alone know the true ramifications of the disease. Looking back up at Blake for a moment, Julius bit the inside of his lip before his frown deepened a little.

"Thank you for your help, Galen," he said, albeit grudgingly. "But perhaps you should tend to the other boy, there. I think it\'s best Dee and I take our leave."

[w0rmy]

Dee touched his face tenderly. It was swollen. And it hurt quite a lot. Even though the curiosity was almost overbearing, he didn’t dare to look into a mirror. And anyway, it wasn’t as if there was one about. Perhaps tomorrow, the boy would dare.

Even though Dee kept his eyes upon Galen, he could feel Julius tensing up. The man was obviously not happy about the touching, despite it being necessary. He was about to give Julius’s shoulder another squeeze however was distracted upon hearing Galen’s words. He had not expected that and it probably showed on his face. Dee bit his lip, odd eyes dropping towards the blood ridden ground. For a moment or two, he didn’t look up into the doctor’s eyes, almost as if he was afraid of something. This incident… was partly his fault also. If Dee hadn’t slept with Galen, none of this would have happened. He sighed and looked deeply into Galen’s eyes. He had forgotten what a nice shade of grey they were. “Don’t worry, Doctor Galen.” His hand twitched. For a second there, he was about to give the older man a rub on the shoulder. And that, wouldn’t exactly be a wise move, especially with Blake and Julius in the vicinity.  

Dee’s smooth forehead creased slightly upon hearing Galen stop in mid speech. Why did he stop? He was about to ask him to continue until Julius spoke. Dee’s mouth parted once more but then shut it. There was no point in arguing against his knight, it wasn’t as if he wanted to anyway. It would be best if all of them went home and got some rest. A sudden though pierced through the squire’s mind like a knife. He didn’t want to spend the night alone! Without a doubt, dreams would be haunting his mind. He would feel better if he was sharing a room with someone. However, Dee wouldn’t ask this question till they were safely outside, away from any prying eyes.

Before the left, Dee looked back at Blake once more. At first, he didn\'t know what to say but in the end, he went with a \'see you around, Blake\'. It wasn\'t great but it was better than nothing.

[DoTheLimbo]

Galen glanced up at Julius for a moment, his hands leaving Dee’s body. He noticed the rather angry expression on the other. Standing up, glad that Julius had shown a response that he had listened to Galen. As Julius began to speak, he glanced over at Blake. The doctor didn’t say anything. After a moment, he nodded, “That’s fine.”

Blake, however, had looked over to the others. His hearing was becoming more aware and he glanced at his father before looking at Dee. Dee wouldn’t leave him to go home with Galen, would he? Trying to keep steady, Blake made a rather quiet whimper in an attempt to speak. He gave that up as soon as he felt a lurching in his stomach. The boy glared at the knight, now realizing that the man had quite the steady grip on Dee. It was only fair that he could hug Dee right now. Blake felt annoyed that he was so weak and wished he was older so that he could be stronger.

When Dee and Julius went to leave, Blake’s face pouted with frustration. At Dee’s words, he wanted to respond ’ that was a dumb thing to say’ but instead he turned away. He was angry with Dee. The other just left him alone with Galen.

Galen and Blake took their leave immediately after Julius and Dee. The ride back to their own manor had been awkward and when they got home Blake refused any medical attention from his father out of pride and stubbornness. They went to their separate rooms for the night. Galen to research some of his work to take his mind off the night’s events, and Blake to begin writing a letter to Dee.