As Daniel laid in his bed in the dirty, falling apart inn, he couldn’t help but think about the hedge healer who had saved his arm. The one at Orc’s rest town, Donovan, had wanted to chop it off. Had even gotten the cleaners involved, and Daniel had run as if someone was chasing him. Which was probably the case.

But then, he had heard word that Hadrian Deranges was in Myrna. And Harry was always good at finding solutions to tough situations. Then Harry had come with a healer in tow, and Daniel had gotten his hopes up.

Said hopes had given way to anger when the healer admitted to being a hedge healer, but this Edwin had done wonders for him, and he did feel better. Now, his arm was bandaged and when the skin regrows, he would have to have it frozen every day for the rest of his life.

Which meant, he would have to travel with the healer. That wasn’t so bad, he mused, as the healer came packaged with Harry and, apparently, three children. Daniel liked children very much, and he was pleasantly surprised when Hadrian had told him that one of them, Rael, wanted to become a warrior.

He could train him, pass on his skills, ensure that there were dragon vermin exterminators in the future even when he himself was no longer around. That was more than he expected of life after the bark began to grow on him.

He looked at Hadrian and Edwin, who were slumped next to the door. Too far away from him to touch, but close enough, so he could call for them. It was a day outside and so neither could go out.

Well, he supposed that Edwin could. Hadrian was not in the business of making vampires. But Hadrian was going to have to stay until nightfall. With a shrug, Daniel picked up his glass and drank the content. Even the water tasted off in this inn.

The healer stirred and looked over at him.

“How do you feel?” Asked the hedge healer. He rubbed at his eyes and stood up.

“Like a bear scratched the stuffing out of me,” said Daniel groggily.

“For someone who got flayed, you are recovering quickly. What kind of blessing are you under?” Asked Edwin, genuinely curious.

“It is rude to ask someone of their religious beliefs,” said Daniel with slightly narrowed eyes. Edwin held up his arms in front of himself.

“I’m sorry. It is just that normally such strong blessings are not given without a hefty price. When I made the deal to be able to see through the eyes of my reanimated animals and people, Harika asked for ten years of my lifespan,” said Edwin with a shrug.

“Tough deal for something so useless,” snickered Daniel. Edwin smiled back at him and rubbed the back of his head.

“To be honest, back then I was ten, and so I thought that ten years were nothing. Most necromancers live well past their three hundred years,” said Edwin, then his expression darkened. “I didn’t know how they did it then. More the fool, I, yes?”

“You are like Harry in that regard. Normal vampires a blight, Harry is a treasure. Normal necromancers are just Liches waiting to happen. You are a puppy,” said Daniel. He sends a sidelong glance Edwin’s way to see him bristling.

“Do explain yourself!” Commanded the hedge healer.

“You let Harry lead you by the nose and have even grown attached to him. For how long did you know him?” Asked Daniel, now turning around to stare at Edwin.

“For a month, but…”

“Everything after but is not worth saying,” interrupted him Daniel. “How long until my skin starts to regrow?”

“Skin regenerates every 27 days, but…” Edwin stopped himself and smirked.

“You are an annoying puppy; you know that? In fact, that is what I am going to call you, puppy,” Edwin’s right eye twitched, and he spoke.

“I may need to flay you again, if the warts reappear. Besides, you will need some serious lifestyle changes,” finished Edwin, now dead serious.

“Such as, puppy?” Asked Daniel with a smirk. Oh, Edwin was going to enjoy wiping that look off his face.

“You have to stop smoking and drinking,” said Edwin, and he watched as Daniel collapsed back in the bed as if someone had pushed him down.

“Come on, I smoke one pipe per day. And drink only about five to ten times,” tried to protest, Daniel. Edwin’s eyes widened at that.

“Your poor liver,” said Edwin. He stood up and went to the still lying warrior. “Shirt off, I am running diagnostics on it.”

“There is nothing wrong with my liver!” Snapped Daniel. His mother always used to nag him about drinking, bless her soul, and now this healer was going to be doing the same. He just knew it.

“I think your abdomen looks a bit swollen,” said Edwin, poking it through the shirt. “You could be gathering too much liquid in there.”

“I am a wall of muscle, not chubby at all!” Snapped Daniel and he batted Edwin’s finger away.

“You are an alcoholic, ten times per day? Do you drink in the morning too?” It was Edwin’s turn to feel agitated. He hated it when patients refused a checkup.

“Dany, listen to Eddy and take your shirt off. Or I will come and bite you on the neck again,” said a sleepy Hadrian from the door. Daniel blushed deep red for some reason, and Edwin raised his eyebrow at him.

“What does it matter where he bites you?” Asked Edwin. He didn’t feel anything special after feeding Hadrian. It was numbing and like a mosquito bite. Not pleasant, but certainly not the worst thing that could happen.

“You don’t know? That is the vampire equivalent of a kiss!” Protested Daniel. Hadrian snickered.

“In your loveless life, maybe. Just because people find it romantic, does not make it so. Here, I will feed from Eddy and show you how a person with a normal brain perceives it,” said Hadrian, standing up and making his way to the two.

“And if I want to avoid being a test subject?” Asked Edwin, amused and looking to get a favor out of Hadrian.

“I’ll do the dishes for the whole of next month,” said Hadrian as he placed a hand over Edwin’s neck and slightly bend it to the side.

“Fair enough,” said Edwin as he leaned in.

The bite was not what Daniel had made it out to be. It was the same mosquito bite as usual. So, since Edwin felt unprofessional today, he teased Daniel that he had feelings for Hadrian. Hadrian stared at the scene in amused and didn’t make a sound.