The Ranch

There's two types of errandboys (4)

"Honey, can you do me a favor and take off your clothes, or does it hurt too much?" She uses a soft voice, like when soothing a child.

"Wait what?!" Distraught surfaces in Kai's voice at the sudden command.

"Calm down brat, I need a clear view of his injuries." The tone of her voice changes when she talks to Kai. Kai notices the woman quickly lick her lips as she watches Tih obediently pull his hoodie over his head.

"So... what exactly makes you so popular among soldiers?" Kai looks for a topic to distract the woman.

"Simple. Cheap treatment, no questions asked." The lady answers the question bluntly, eyes not straying from Tih's pliable looking torso. Thin but not bony. Pale and spotless. Good proportions. Would make a good model.

Kai moves on to the next question. " You're the first woman I've seen on this-"

The woman cuts him off, "If you want to be scientific about it, I'm what you'd call a hermaphrodite. It's-"

Kai cuts her off as payback, "A person or animal having both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics, either abnormally or, in the case of some organisms, as the natural condition. An individual that has both ovarian and testicular tissue." Don't mess with the chatterbox with a good memory.

"...right. You're smarter than you look at first glance ." She takes another look at the boy.

"You're first glance was correct. He just has a really good memory." Sherlock mocks Kai from the other room. The distance between the two is small, and the design allows sounds to travel.

"Oh~ Photogenic memory? Haven't had once of those in a while, not since the last one croaked a few years back."

"Does the island get a lot of them?" Kai looks surprised.

"Yes, though they each have their own level." She hints at something.

"What does that mean?" Kai is confused.

A grin surfaces on the woman's face as they tap the tip of their nose," Spoilers~" She seems to enjoy messing with him.

With Tih's hoodie off, the masseuse takes a look at his injuries.

"A few bruises and cuts. Nothing too deep. You should be fine after a little disinfectant. This might sting a bit but I'll be done in a jiffy buttercup." She starts dabbing a wet cotton ball on Tih's cuts.

"That's...interesting." She mumbles mainly to herself.

"What, is there something wrong?" Kai asks after overhearing.

"If you count not flinching from pain "wrong"." She answers sarcastically. "Reacting to pain should be involuntary..."

"Ahh, yeah about that, Tih seems to be...pain resistant?" Kai tries the right word to describe Tih.

"CIP?" She wonders.

"Congenital analgesia? Maybe? If it is, he's never talked about it." Kai realizes how ironic his words are. "Actually, even if Tih does have it, I doubt he's aware of it."

"You can be unaware to a lack of pain? Hun, that's something you'd realize eventually, without having to be told."

"Uh, how do I explain this. I've only known Tih for a couple months, but from what I've seen...he's incredibly dense. He lacks the most basics of common sense. Yet, after spending time with him, the idea that Tih lives well without the use of common sense becomes the norm and- sorry, I'm going off on a tangent now." Kai scratches his cheek in embarrassment.

"Looks like the lil Dumpling doesn't know what you're talking about." The masseuse glances at Tih's tilted head.

Kai sighs," Tih, light bends around you. You're so dense, you don't even realize you're being dense." He looks at Tih with a mix of worry, pity, and amusement.

"Just what am I going to do with you. I doubt I'll be able to let you go now that I've met you." Kai accidentally leaks some of his inner thoughts.

"Oh honey, I can agree with that." Her sass is evident. "You can run if you want, but it's hard to find a reliable doctor 'round here. If you want the best of the best, you're stuck with me sweetie." She gives a knowing grin.

"Annnd, you're done. All fixed up and ready to go." The masseuse applies the last bandage on the bandage covered boy.

Kai, ready to get Tih out and away from the fawning "lady", quickly pays and drags the boy out of the room.

She calls out to Tih before he's out of sight, "Dumpling! The name's June, come find me next time you're hurt. I'll give you a discount." She blows a kiss.

"I'm definitely never bringing you here again." Kai mutters under his breath. Kai and Tih walk hand in hand and meet up with the others. The groups makes a decision to eat dinner together. They grab their preferred meals and meet up at their usual table.

Kai is busy concentrating on his discussion with Sherlock, something about needing more allies, Tih wasn't paying much attention. He is more focused on Kai's hand holding a spoon that keeps dropping food that was trying to enter his eating hole.

Now, during Tih's time with Nathan, he ended up learning a new skill. One day, Nathan had asked Tih to personally feed him his meal. This was a recurring request that slowly became habit for Nathan. It'll be a wonder how he'll eat from now on, though he will need to fill in a few missing teeth first.

Tih, equipped with his newest skill, brings it upon himself to help Kai. Tih brings a spoonful of food up to Kai's mouth, till it touches his lips. Kai, who's not focused on where his hand is, unconsciously assumes the hand holding the spoon is his own and opens his mouth, letting the spoon inside.

Tih continues to babysit him until a snap is heard. Kai and Sherlock who were previously engrossed in their conversation look over at Lucien who was trying to sneakily take a photo, but forgot to turn on silent mode, something he'll take into account in the future.

Snapped out of his focused state, the baby finally notices the hand thats carrying another spoonful of food to his lips. He follows the arm to see who it's attached to. "Why..." Looking upon that innocent face, Kai feels no anger, only embarrassment. He has a well-enough understanding to know that Tih did not mean anything cruel by the act, he was purely trying to help.

They finish their meals as Lucien sends copies to the group, memorializing this momentous occasion and forever ingraining Kai's embarrassment. In the future, Lucien would use this photo to blackmail Kai into doing small errands.