Immortal

06. Other problems

The problems I had didn't end with Alaric's arrival.
He was of course a bit of spaz. He grew more comfortable around me gradually. There were times were he would shuffle around house randomly looking at objects. He would move stuff around, and pick up colorful objects and stare at them for a couple of minutes. He also danced around randomly. I told myself he was getting aquatinted with the area. It really didn't take him long to make himself at home. Although he still slept in that cramped corner. I had seen him crawl into it with an oversized pillow and forcefully stuff it into the small space. It was as if he was creating some kind of nest.

The few times I caught him dancing, he would freeze mid step and turn red. His expression sometimes looked like he was expecting me to smack him for dancing. At one point I caught him with half a piece of fruit sticking out of his mouth. It was fruit from what was still left over, we were rationing it between the two of us. He chewed it slowly and swallowed, while I watched. He then cracked an awkward smile at me. The whole thing was so weird, I couldn't help but laugh.

He looked puzzled at me laughing but went straight back to dancing. His jerking body movement had no rhythm yet he just moved in all directions. His reasoning was just because he could and it felt good to shake out his muscles. Staying in one position for too long seemed boring to him. He would knock over items and dodge them pretty quickly with his movements. The crashing sounds spooking him, since it unsettled the natural silence of our home.

"Learn to watch where you're going." I would call out to him after I heard a dusty old stack of books from the corner of the room he was in fall over. He wouldn't answer me, but I could still hear him running around.

He sometimes watched me peel off the bandages from my chest as I soaked them in a bucket of cold water. The markings where still red and irritated but they were gradually healing. He didn't ask about the injuries. The medicine I had been given was only for dire need when symptoms of healing became too uncomfortable. Since infections couldn't kill us we didn't really need to worry, but it was still an annoying process. Alaric, also sometimes followed me around indirectly. He watched what I did with fascination. He would mimic my movements and then pretend to do something else when I looked. Usually that was normally a staring contest with the opposite wall because he couldn't think of what to do fast enough.

I didn't mind his presence, even if he was slow to notice that I paid more attention to what he was doing than he thought. He was a goofy kid, a curious goofy kid. He hid suddenly when there was a knock on the front door. Automatically nosediving for his cramped little safe spot only he could fit into. I was perplexed at how quickly he ran away. If only he could put that speed into use for other things. I thought. I pressed the button from the inside of our home to unlock the door. Lycoris was standing outside, she had her hair in pigtails. Her large eyes taken by surprise, her white blouse flowing in the wind. "Erm." She began. She seemed to be trying to come up with an excuse for why she was here.

"I didn't know doctors did house visits." I automatically fell into my usual sarcastic tone. I recalled her previous comment of me talking in my sleep, and drooling according to her. Her face went from a polite smile to a dark mannered scowl. "Jerk." She said and cleared her throat. "Its just a check up." She mumbled. "Don't get so excited." I raised an eyebrow. "Nothing about you excites me." I answered correcting her statement and she glared.

"Its for training purposes, trust me if I didn't have to come here I wouldn't." Her expression showed little amusement. "Thats some pretty awful bedside manner you have." I began and she rolled her eyes. "Get over yourself," she shoved past me into the house. I never recalled letting her in, but she welcomed herself. "Have you cleaned your bandages." She said while standing in the middle of the living room.