Chapter 7: Can't sit idle
While Andy was checking up on some patients, Darius lingered in the doorway. He had read the small among of pages that Andy had told him to read, practiced the alphabet, and now couldn't do much else but stare at his father, as he bandaged the elven lady. She looked up to him, and gave him a soft smile.
Darius was not accustomed to such smiles. He was accustomed to scowls, to being chased away. Now that his long red hair was combed, and tied in a ponytail, his clothes looking pressed and clean, and he himself didn't stink, he supposed that he was as far away from being Beggar as he could get.
But that didn't make him Darius. Darius was the son of Andiel Loreth. Adopted officially, just last week. Darius had a room all to himself, plus clothes and three guaranteed meals a day. Darius also had a loyal dog by the name of Pavel, which he should go and see now. Pavel was still hurt.
The fast-working herbs that had seen Darius healed didn't always work on animals. Besides, Andy was a human healer. Pavel was at a clinic now, being looked after by doctors that specialized in animals. The young demonic boy had not even known that they existed, before Andy had told him about them.
Darius cleared his throat, and stepped inside the office, as his father liked to call it.
"Dad, can I go and see Pavel?" Darius asked, as Andiel took a pause from what he was doing to stare up at his son.
"Yes, you may. Don't forget to get your coat on the way out, your hat and your gloves. Come back before it is dark," Andiel said, and Darius rushed out of the room. It was still light outside. The sun had graced them with its warmth just an hour ago. Darius would have the entire day to be outside.
A part of him wondered why he felt so restless here. Hadn't this been what he had always dreamed of? A place to call home, steady supply of food, a loving parent? Now that he had it all, he allowed himself to dream. Most of the books that Andiel had were romance books. In them, the main character always got together with their fated mate, and they had kids.
That never failed to make Darius happy. When he had been out on the streets, he had not dared to hope that he could grow up. Yet now, he felt like that goal was something he could achieve. And then what? Andiel won't live forever. He was an elf. Darius, on the other hand, would undergo changes, or so Andy had told him, and become immortal at twenty-two.
Before Darius knew it, he was before the clinic. His thoughts were still with his future mate. The person had to be a beautiful lady, immortal. Maybe a demoness? Or a nymph? In the stories, the nymphs were always kind and cheerful. Darius would like a cheerful lady to call a friend and mate.
The boy entered the clinic, and sat on one of the chairs for the visitors. No one chased him away, as he had become a permanent sight for those that worked here.
"Ah, young master Loreth," one nurse called, and Darius had to blink because he was still not accustomed to being called such. "Young master Loreth, are you here to see your dog?"
"Yes, I came to see Pavel," Darius said, finally linking the family name with his own.
"Follow me. He is awake and would love visitors," the nurse said, and then walked in the direction of the rooms in which the pets were kept. Pavel was in a cage, which made Darius's heart tighten. He didn't like seeing the dog he had rescued in a cage. Still, he knew that the clinic didn't have much space, and so couldn't afford to house the pets any other way.
"Well, young master Loreth, I will be leaving you with your friend. Don't open the cage, the spells on it help your friend heal," with a final smile, the nurse was off. Darius knelt next to the cage, and stretched his hand inside.
"Hey, Pavel. It is nice and warm in here," Darius said, and the dog began to whine. "Now, none of that. You heard the lady. The spells are healing you."
Pavel gave another whine, but his tail began to wag. Darius patted the dog on the head, and began to retell it the story he had read today. When the nurse came back to get him to leave, as the visiting hours were over, Darius patted the dog on the head one last time, and then exited the clinic.
The cold air bit at his cheeks, but didn't manage to get through his coat, or his boots. Darius wandered for a while, and then his legs took him back to the dirty alley, where everything began. If he wanted to become a bounty hunter, then he needed to start now. To make a name for himself.
The last time he had visited the tavern, it had been with Andy. The elf had explained that, if you didn't cash in your job, the other bounty hunters would hunt you. So, the elf had taken him back to the tavern, and had placed a letter in a box, and then they were off.
The tavern was just as lively as back then. People were drinking. Laughing and enjoying the warmth of the tavern. Some took a couple of looks at him. Now that he looked like the child of someone, some of the looks were even concerned. He stopped before the wall with the bounties, and then dragged the same chair as before, so he could read the bounties on offer.
At a first glance, nothing looked like he could do it by nightfall. Then, he saw it. Slime extermination in a garden. Apparently, the slimes had woken up early this year, and now the walkway of a certain lady was all covered in ice because of them. Well, slimes were something that Darius had killed before. Nothing new about that. The trick was to take out their nucleus.
