Taking his own measures.

A couple of days after their visit to the trade district and running into the Exile Shiranui there, Toshiro was on a follow up mission. The Guard had had time to question the Exile, Toshiro himself having spent a number of hours with the man in custody. Of course there was some question as to how long they could detain him considering he had not done anything to warrant more than questioning. They hadn't released him yet, though.

There was little the man had been able to tell them; he could only assure them that he was not working in league with the Chorong Rebels, but that he had come from the same holdless group as Kazage and thus, their fates had been inevitably interconnected. Apparently, much of the time that Kazage had been amoungst the Chorong, Shiranui had been keeping his distance, scouting out other territory for them as it were -figuratively speaking.

This all made Toshiro even more wary of the Exile Kazage. Shiranui had offered some interesting information on the man, but it all only confirmed those things Kazage had revealed to them thus far. But it reiterated the fact that Kazage was not one to keep all his eggs in one basket, and he likely had other shady dealings and contacts all over the central region of the continent. Of course, Toshiro always seemed to think about worst case scenarios. That said, Toshiro was viewing Kazage more and more as a real, possible threat to the Lord Holder.

Seeing as they were keeping tabs on Kazage, Toshiro decided to go to the place the Exile'd been staying, in order to assess in his own way, just how much of a threat he might pose -just in case worst came to worst. Toshiro held other suspicions and curiosities about the man, so felt he was pursuing Kazage with valid reason, which was that Toshiro needed to know just how dangerous the man might be if he ever desired to try and replace Rihan by killing him. The two would likely be in close quarters more in the future, and though it might be a very direct and obvious method of approach that Kazage likely would not take, it was still a possibility that should be safeguarded against.

The look in Kazage's eyes and the matter of how imposing the man was, told Toshiro that he'd killed a man before -even prior to events of the rescue- and his brilliance and personal ambition was not something to be taken lightly, even if he claimed it was for the Holding Family. No matter what transpired between all of them, Toshiro did not want to be caught unprepared.

The Captain had also noticed something very strange about the Exile: every time he wore his sword, it was on his right hip. The more he thought about it, the more that troubled Toshiro. Even without the skepticism and unease surrounding Kazage, that alone made Toshiro want to pursue him.



Toshiro arrived at the man's temporary residence, but after going inside the inn and not finding him home, he went back outside to lean against the building, waiting for the man's return. The inn he'd chosen was one associated with high class pillowcrafters, which he hoped were not also being provided by Lord Rihan's generosity. He was also left hoping that no one Ariadne knew would be passing by here any time soon to see him lingering in such a spot.



Arriving within a candlemark of Toshiro's arrival, Kazage noticed Toshiro from a distance and stopped rather short of completing the walk to his final destination. Still a good few meters back from where Toshiro was now pushing himself off from the wall, Kazage watched him, eyeing the Captain like a hawk, "I wasn't aware any canines of Telgar were set loose around here. What are you doing out of your cage?" Subtle enjoyment could be seen through a faint smile that formed there on the Exile's lips, as he mocked the Captain.

Arm indolently posed over the weapons at his hip, Toshiro slowly closed the distance between them. "Don't pretend you didn't expect to be followed. I'm sure you know very well we've been trailing you."

"Then what are you doing here? Lord Rihan has come calling for me?"

Lips curling into the hint of a hungry, unsettling smile that carried over into the Captain's eyes, became a shining reminder of his devilish nature. "You're not that lucky. You'll have to continue to wait for that; I've only come here to take a few measures of my own."

For a moment Kazage was silent, and then an amused sound rose from his lips, "Hmmmmm? What do you intend?"

"I just wanted to challenge you to a friendly duel. That sword of yours isn't just for show, now is it? First hit wins." The Captain had been quaintly smoothing the thumb of his left hand over the pommel of his blade while they talked. And as the Exile seemed to agree to the terms of the friendly match between the two of them, Toshiro prepared himself for what he'd been imagining their outcome to be in his mind.




Through the (mostly) darkened windows of sleeping Telgar, the sounds of sword steel rang out as their blades met. Toshiro's pernicious blade was swinging in a flash moonlight against reflective steel. So quick and precise was that movement that it could have easily been missed by the eye. The Exile however, was ready for him, and proved just as precise in his movements. The two of them pressed eachother before the next attack, the hand guards of both their blades meeting, but both men tore away and then lunged forward again in another series of strikes.

The two fell into an intricate flurry of attacks and counters made readily available, one for the other, lasting a number of minutes before it was clear who held the upper hand in this fight. It was safe to say the two of them were evenly matched for the time being, but it was obvious that Toshiro was struggling to maintain his ground. If Kazage had been a right-handed swordsman, Toshiro would have held the slight upper hand, but that was not the case. Toshiro's trouble was that there were no existing practices to combat against left-handed swordsmen.

The Captain had been studying the possibilities of approaching Kazage in combat for the last few days, in his own mind, trying to prepare himself. But there was no real way of fully preparing ones self for such a thing except through the physical action of it. And Left handed swordsmen simply didn't exist -unless your name was Kazage. They didn’t exist, and therefore, left handed sword techniques didn’t exist. Every teacher taught their students Right handed technique, even if the person themselves was left handed so, Toshiro was finding himself outmatched for that reason.

He could adjust his own style indefinitely to try and compensate for the differences in Kazage’s unorthodox fighting style, but it would still take some practice being able to fight the Exile effectively. On the other hand, in Kazage’s case, the man had developed an entire style of sword techniques surrounding his left handed capabilities while practicing only against right handed practitioners, which meant that Toshiro...no matter how skilled he was, was still at a terrible disadvantage.


Kazage slapped away Toshiro's incoming strike, quickly retracting his own blade. It was easier to find an opening there than it should have been, and the Exile took it. Instead of stopping short of contact when he drove the tip of his sword at the Captain, Kazage penetrated Toshiro's side in that very place where the rebel soldier had nearly skewered him all the way through.

Kazage knew it to be a weak point for him, and Toshiro quickly clenched his jaw shut, fighting the urge to cry out when Kazage withdrew his sword, though it had only been the two or three inches at the tip he inserted there. But it was first hit; Kazage had won that round, and Toshiro dropped to one knee to support himself, cringing against the burning pain above his hip.

The Exile stepped back from the Captain then, calmly sheathing his weapon. "Well. It was fun. If you'd like, I'll give you the chance to duel me again sometime." With that, he walked passed Toshiro, making his way to the Inn in which he would be staying.




Taking breaths cut short by the shooting pain in his side, Toshiro stood back on both feet, replacing his weapon within the scabbard at his side. His side poured with blood again, so as he retraced his steps back in the direction of the officer's barracks, he held pressure on his hip, wrapping his mind around the pain as best he could in order to diminish it. Growling, frustrated with himself, he was in a cross mood, not at all feeling well when he arrived in front of Ariadne's house.

Well..how had he gotten there? Obviously he wasn't thinking clearly -or maybe he was, and this was just the place he really needed to be going. In either case, he was glad to be there. At least Ariadne would be able to help him clean and bandage the wound again. The same sharding place as last time. That made Toshiro feel pitiful.

Sharding Exile had just added insult to injury by choosing that point to stab at. But the injury had been worth it, confirming to Toshiro that Kazage would prove a much more dangerous opponent than initially expected -if things happened to end up that way.

At first, Toshiro leaned against the door frame leading into Ariadne's house, debating on waking her up this time of night; but he wanted to see her. He always wanted to see her. So, Toshiro felt at the doorknob to see if it was unlocked. Seeing as generally the area was considered very safe, it wasn't uncommon to leave doors unlocked for family and friends to find their way in and out. Such was the case with theirs thankfully -at least this night- though Toshiro might tell her to start locking their door more often if someone like him could just come waltzing in. See how that works out? Well, to Toshiro it made perfect sense.

Opening the front door, Toshiro was at least quiet about it, making relatively little noise as he made his way to the kitchen and found himself a couple of hand towels and small basin to fill with water. Then he found the alcohol. Though the room was dark, barely lit by streams of moonlight, Toshiro knew their home well enough by now to navigate even in the pitch black of a moonless night. Taking everything he'd gathered to the table, Toshiro removed his belt and weapons, laying them down somewhere, moving to strip himself of the top layers of his uniform, leaving him only in his pants. His mind distracted enough by the pain, he'd forgotten that he hadn't even tried to see about waking Ariadne yet for her to help him.

But Toshiro was already seated by that point, slouched over slightly so that he could give proper attention to his wound. Having opened the bottle of alcohol, he started cleaning the area of injury with it, sucking air through his teeth as he did, since it, of course, only burned even more painfully then.

The whole house was quiet and sleepy. Even Ariadne was deeply sleeping, her breathing even and soft. As deeply as she was sleeping, her mommy instincts seemed to set in whenever there was a noise that wasn't norma she woke up. So hearing some noise coming from the kitchen/dining area she woke, her eyes opened slowly. Maybe she shouldn't get up and find out what was going on because it might not be safe. However her curiosity won over.

Tip toeing from her room to peer into the dining room, she couldn't make out too much of what was going on at first. Then she noticed Toshiro's weapons. Her eyes made a quick scan and saw Toshiro slumped forward in a chair. "Toshiro." She whispered, walking forward to put her hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Her concern grew when she saw the alcohol. Was he injured? How and why? She didn't really understand how it could have happened. She left him for a moment to light a couple glows. She would need to see the wound, if indeed he was as injured as she thought he might be. Her worry and anxiety was growing as her brain began to take in the details. Where he had been focusing was similar to where his last major wound had been

Faranth let her be wrong, she thought as she brought the glows closer to Toshiro, sitting them on the table.

If only she had been wrong. While Ariadne brought the glows, Toshiro found himself holding his breath as he cringed, and then he let go of the breath slowly, groaning. With light available to see, Toshiro removed his own hand from over the renewed stab wound, revealing it to Ariadne. He was so grateful she was here. Surely it wasn't as deep as the previous cut there, but that didn't make a stab wound of any sort any less excruciating.

That bastard Kazage! He'd only wanted to press the point -literally and figuratively- that he could have killed Toshiro if he wanted. He could have bested one of Telgar's most skilled swordsmen right then and there. The thought brought anger instead of pain to the forefront of Toshiro's mind, causing Toshiro to reach a blood-covered hand again for the bottle of alcohol, which he ended up drinking from; and in his angered state, replaced it on the table in a not-so-quiet manner. That son of a !-The jolt from setting the bottle down so hard caused his whole side to tense, making him wince again with discomfort.

Ariadne tried not to cringe when she saw the wound. Of course it was in the same place as before. She was visibly concerned. "We need to get you to the infirmary." She said softly. "I don't have what we need here to treat your wound." She said moving to grab the shirt he had put aside. She took it and pressed it to the wound. PRessure might help stop the bleeding but it was going to be painful. She knew Toshiro had a high pain tolerance so the wound was probably more painful than she could even imagine.

"Hold the shirt to the wound. I need to get some shoes on." She didn't care that she was only wearing a nightgown. As soon as she had slipped a pair of shoes on she was back at Toshiro's side. "I'll be back." She kissed his cheek and was out the door before he could try to stop her.

Ariadne could treat minor wounds but she needed a healer to help. Lyria lived just around the corner and had a key to the infirmary. She enlisted the young woman's help, banging on the door till the woman came to the door. Lyria and Ariadne walked together to the infirmary, carrying what they were going to need back in a basket. The path to the infirmary and back was quiet. Lyria had made sure to lock up the place when they left so nothing would be missing in the morning.

It had been almost a candlemark from when Ariadne left and when she came back with the supplies needed and Lyria. Ari was hoping Toshiro wa still conscious but she wasn't sure that he would be. The two women entered the house trying to be quiet. The two glows were not going to be enough light so Ariadne went to the back of the house to grab some of the others. She lit them and then addressed Toshiro while Lyria set up the medical supplies.

"Shiro, we need to move you onto the table, so that you are laying flat."

By the time Ariadne had returned with Lyria and their supplies, Toshiro was sitting on the floor against the wall where he felt more comfortable than in one of the wooden seats around the table. He was practically laying where he'd put himself, doing his best to hold the shirt into place to stem the bleeding while his right hand tipped the container filled with alcohol to his lips. At least that would help the shooting pain spreading like fire from above the hip. Toshiro's face was pale and his body had started to sweat, warmed by the alcohol.

The container rolled from his grasp, clanking to the floor beside him when Ariadne mentioned getting him to the table. He wasn't unconscious, but he was miserable and partially drunk, smelling like blood and alcohol. Doing his best to manage on his own to get back to the table, he was coherent enough to mentally wonder why he hadn't thought of laying on the table in the first place. He should have foreseen that's where they wanted him; but the floor for whatever reason seemed more appealing to his comfort -and the table is what they ate on. Nevertheless, making his way to his knees, Toshiro stumbled to his feet, making a racket when he nearly tipped over one of the chairs, causing it to slide into the side of the table. But then he finally made his way there, gasping for air by the time he rolled down onto his back on the elevated surface.

And if the noise from the dining area woken Ariadne's parents by now, likely nothing would.


After removing himself from the floor, it was apparent that traces of blood had been smeared from the chair to the floor by the table, over to the wall. It would be somewhat of a mess to have to clean up later.

Lyria's face matched Ari's in its concern. The young woman held no hard feelings for either of them and was happy to help heal the Captain. She refrained from flirting with him this time around. She shot Ariadne a look that showed her true concern. He had lost quite a bit of blood. Ariadne went away for a moment, to get a pillow which she put underneath his head, gently.

Meanwhile Lyria began to numb the pain of the wound with numbweed. Ariadne, took his hand and held it in case the pain was too much for him. Once the numbweed began to take effect in dulling the pain, Ariadne passed Lyria the redwort. The redwort was used to clean out the wound. The clean clothes they were using, were soon stained with the redwort and his blood.

Once it was cleaned, the Ari threaded a small needle for Lyria who went on to suture the wound. When she was done, the knotted the end and cute the excess. At this point, Ariadne's parents had come in and were watching for a moment before her mother left to check on Thessaly. Her father saw the blood on the wall and went to get supplies from the kitchen to clean it off. If Thessaly came out here, she shouldn't be able to see such a gruesome sight.

When Lyrai was finished and began to pack up the unused infirmary supplies, Ariadne began to clean up what needed to be thrown away. Lyria took a small bottle of fellis and left it next to Toshro, "Ari, he can only take this a little when hte pain is very great, otherwise we know he will push himself too far and disrupt the healing process."

Nodding, Ariadne looked down at Toshiro. "You can lay here or we can move you to my bed? Do you feel up to moving?"

The mixture of alcohol and loss of blood had been enough to cause Toshiro to black out while stitches were applied, and he remained unconscious until Lyria was prescribing fellis to Ariadne. Even so, now that he was awake again, his head felt groggy, and he wasn't much able to focus on what was being said.

With Ari leaning near, to see if he felt like moving, his head turned, lolling to one side. After a moment, he seemed to comprehend what she was saying as his eyes opened to look up at her. He didn't have the energy to say it, but he was thinking it, as he struggled to roll onto his right side in order to get up that way, That's gotta be the wrong question. I don't want to move, but I know I'll have to. I may as well do it while there's numbweed. Toshiro growled as he moved, pushing with his arms to prop himself up. Evil witch Lyria probably wouldn't leave him with any numbweed or fellis this time; just like the last. She'd held it hostage only for the worst of his pain. She must like seeing him in pain -that's all he could think of. And of course, he had yet to notice the small fellis bottle resting on the opposite side of the table, which he now had his back to.

Lyria and Kazage both were out to get him. Maybe the two of them should get married. They'd make a happy couple that could torture him together.

Toshiro was still light headed and dizzy as he sat all the way up, trying to manage swinging his legs over the side of the table so he could get to his feet. Sitting up on the edge of the table though, was about all he could manage for the time being. He started to consider the threat of Kazage again, cursing the man in his head while he worried about being able to protect Rihan in his current condition, when darkness crept back into his vision. Slumping back onto the table, he passed out again, this time, likely to sleep for a while.

Seeing as he was out again, Ariadne and her father, lifted Toshiro off the table. Lyria helped Ariadne with her side, they let Toshiro's feet drag a little as they moved him to Ariadne's bed. Once there, Ariadne took off his shoes and covered him with a blanket. Her father went back to clean the wall. Her mother had settled Thessaly back down and was cleaning the table. Meanwhile, Lyria left the house to go back to her own bed.

Ariadne bent down and kissed Toshiro's forehead, left the room, closing the door behind her. She went out to help her parents clean. They didn't say anything to one another they were all concerned about what had happened but there was nothing to say. Ariadne didn't know what happened, why or how so asking her would have created no answers. They would have to wait till morning when hopefully Toshiro would regain consciousness. When they were done cleaning, her parents went back to sleep. Ari went to get a glass of water and the small bottle of fellis, which she brought into her room and sat on the nightstand.

Putting her hand on his forehead, she brushed back his hair. She was so worried she didn't think she would be able to get back to sleep herself but she figured she had better rest. She walked around to the other side of the bed and curled up next to him without touching his wound at all. She might not be able to sleep but she would be there if he woke up at all.

Luckily for a number of hours he hardly stirred. He needed the rest, and they'd all been up much of the night without any. So it was when he woke, that the sun was already coming up, filtering light in through the window. Toshiro's eyes fluttered to open, not quite immediately conscious of Ariadne laying next to him. When he tried to move his arms though to sit up on his elbows, he stopped short of doing so in order to look beside him. And there was his favourite person in the world.

Glad to have her there, he seemed to either have forgotten or chosen to ignore his condition and everything that had happened that night ,because after he realized they must be in her bed, he allowed a coy little smirk to accompany his words, "I hope I have better memories of last night than I think I do...did we have sex?"

She watched him wake up and realize where he was. She was just glad he was awake and didn't seem to be in copious amounts of pain. Ariadne was smiling at him as he realized she was next to him. Her eyes were focused on his face. He had no idea how worried she had been.

"Mmmm. That would have been much better." She said, leaning over him to kiss him. "I think you were in a fight of some kind. Lyria and I stitched you back up but you really need to take it easy." Which meant he wasn't going to be able to have sex for some time. Ari didn't think she needed to tell him that.

"Do you remember what happened before you got to the house?" She wanted to know how he had been injured and if the person who injured him knew he had been previously wounded in the exact same place on his body. Ari had a sinking feeling that he had gone looking for trouble and that the person who hurt him did know about his previous injury. This meant someone was in Telgar River Hold who was partially responsible for kidnapping Lady Eolyn.

Though he was in pain, the area of his injury was still partially numbed by the salve put on it earlier, so for now, he could continue to rest a little more easily. Returning the kiss she gave him, he decided that he could get used to waking up with her beside him. Soon they'd be able to; and he was smiling over that with dreamy expression before she started on about how Lyria had come to stitch him back together. He was appreciative of the woman's help but had yet to voice it. There were still sneaking suspicions that she was going to make him suffer this time around, too.

Before answering Ariadne's question, Toshiro wanted to sit up and have something to drink. He was thirsty and hungry and his body ached. Pushing himself up from the bed, he winced while setting himself back against the headboard. He wanted to pretend not to hear her question because he wasn't really at liberty to reveal anything about the situation with Kazage publicly. So, as he looked to the night stand for water, glad to find some readily available, Toshiro simply focused on breathing deep and even breaths while nearly finishing the glass.

Before he could begin feeling drowsy again though, Toshiro answered her simply, if not vaguely, "I was assessing a threat. I has now been assessed." As if he would have harumphed over that, displeased by the outcome, he set the glass back down on the night stand with a measure of indignance, beginning to anger again over Kazage's pointed reminder that it was he who held the upper hand -for now. That did not please Toshiro one bit; and he'd yet to inform Rihan or the other Captain in Telgar River Hold of his findings. But he doubted that Kazage would make any move at the moment to bring any harm to the Heir Apparent. He was simply a man who desired dominance and he'd been reminding Toshiro who was the dominant of the two in case the Captain couldn't guess it.

The anger returning to him, he was unable to keep from being at least a little evident by his expression, though he was quiet and had closed his eyes by that point to rest. The fellis he could already feel taking effect.

While she was happy to have him in bed with her and looked forward to waking up with him beside her every morning she was also slightly disappointed by his answer. He had gone looking for trouble at night, without back up and hadn't given a thought to what it would do to her to lose him. Toshiro was not used to having to think about anyone but himself and while she knew that she knew he wouldn't change unless she said something. He wasn't going to like what she said but he needed to hear it.

"I see." She said, not appreciating how vague he had been or his angry reaction to it. She was the one who should be angry. And wasn't she just a little bit? "You went looking for trouble at night without any back up and without a thought for anyone else." Did he think he was doing anyone a favor by disregarding his life like that? She didn't understand why he could not see the value of his own life even if he thought he was protecting other people. It wouldn't do him any good or anyone else any for him to die for no apparent reason.

As angry as she might have sounded there were tears in her eyes, "You need to start thinking like there are people who care whether you live or die." Didn't he see how serious this injury could have been? How close he could have been to death? "I don't want to raise another child without its father." She whispered.

"I wasn't looking for trouble." Toshiro knew she had a point, but she was overreacting to a situation that wasn't as bad as she thought it was -at least from his perspective- so he had to argue. At least a little. Of course he also tried to ease her worry a little. "It was supposed to be a match for fun; he just took things too far, in order to rub it in that he beat me. Neither one of us were supposed to come away bleeding."

Sounding as though she might cry, it was when he looked over at Ariadne, the look of frustration and concern apparent over her features, his own resolve began to melt away. At length, his reply came to her with a customary measure of stubbornness and indignation, though it had nothing to do with her -it was just like him, "I get it."

Looking down to his lap, Toshiro let her words replay in his mind, considering them more deeply, "I get it. I'll be more careful. Because I love you."

Ari knew he hadn't meant to get himself into trouble but it did happen and he hadn't been prepared for it. She only meant he needed to think about them as a family. She didn't allow herself too many tears. Partly they were a release of the stress and worry he had caused her and only partly were they from her frustration. She lay there, thinking about what he said and how he had replied. Her only question was what if he was saying this only to appease her and he didn't really believe what he was saying.

Trust. She needed to trust in him and he would prove that her trust was deserved. Ariadne could see he truly cared about her and what she had said. "I'm sorry. " She whispered. "I love you." She leaned over and kissed him again. "Can I get you anything? Breakfast maybe?"

She smiled warmly. All of her anxiety and frustration was gone and now she was the warm, loving person she normally was. Ariadne didn't like to dwell on the bad, preferring to focus on helping him heal. She could hear Thessaly was awake in the dining room. Her parents had been taking care of her this morning. She knew they would, seeing as Ari had to watch over Toshiro. The little girl would want to come and see him, if she knew he was here. Maybe her parents had not told her but there was a chance the little girl had seen the weapons and made that connection.

Toshiro didn't want her to apologize. And he didn't want her to be sad or worried. He would have to do better not to give her cause for worry. Because she was right. That would be his new goal.

Toshiro was smiling when she kissed him again, and he wanted to pull her against him and hold her, but that wouldn't be allowed right now, because it might strain the stitchings on his wound too much and cause them to have to be re-done. With a soft sigh, Toshiro agreed to breakfast. "Breakfast in bed sounds really good. As long as it's with you."

Hopefully the fellis his water had been spiked with was light; he didn't feel like he wouldn't be able to stay awake to eat anyway. So, he was smiling after her, hopeful for something really tasty -something special for the injured, maybe? Well, maybe that was asking for too much. He had troubled them all far too greatly as it was; and the day was just getting started. That thought made him feel pitiful.

Ariadne rolled back to her other side and got out of bed. Just before she left the room she looked back at him and said, "Don't move a muscle and I'll bring you back something delicious." She walked into the dining room where her mother had set aside food for them. Neither of her parents said anything to her. They were still sleepy, drinking their morning klah and watching Thessaly eat her breakfast. The little girl was faced away from her so she didn't see Ariadne come in. She would normally have addressed the little one but she was trying to avoid having the girl look for her.

The tray had a water pitcher, some redfruit, scrambled eggs and berry pancakes. More than enough for one person so Ari was going to steal some of it for herself. She brought the tray back into the room, where Shiro was waiting. "Mom outdid herself again." She sat the tray down on the bed. "What would you like first?"

By the time Ariadne was on her way back, the light fellis was really starting to make him feel a little woozy -but is she sure Lyria didn't put something else in it? Because he was calling for her in short order. Well...sheesh, it felt like so long she'd been gone already!

"Nooooobody feeds the injured one. Someone should bring him food. He'll never heal at this rate. Stuck in Ariadne's home forever!"

Truth be told, he was just trying to forget the thing that had happened the evening before and enjoy his time here with Ariadne. So, as soon as she rounded through the door, he was smiling, "I tried not to move a muscle. Does breathing count? I could see my chest moving up and down. Being this tired still" And he was yawning a fellis induced yawn, "I couldn't help myself." Help himself from what? Controlling his breathing? Not breathing at all?

"Ohhh, what did you bring? When we live together will you cook as well as your mother?" As Ariadne was getting to settling next to him again with the food, a sidelong glance was cast at her skeptically, "If not, I'm sure she won't mind us coming over here to eat since I'll be family and all." Oh for the love of Faranth, he hadn't even had any liquor this morning to keep the pain at bay and he was acting like this. What had gotten into him?

Eyeing the tray of food, he looked at all of the goodies on the plate with apparent suspicion, but very quickly had made up his mind, "That one! The berry cakes. Ohhhhh your mom makes some gooood food." He was rubbing his hands together eagerly before finally calming down, resituating himself where he sat up in bed.

"Could you feed me? Plleaase?" Toshiro opened his mouth wide for a first bite, wondering if he should put on a pitiful face for her or not.