IRON GOD | 2: Empyrean

[13] Ami: Devilish Detail

"Hold your arms out." Ami demonstrated the position. "Now push against me."

    She pushed against Xigon's forearms. His elbows folded in easily.

    Ami sighed. Then she heard pages shuffling. Her eyes darted over to Magpie. "What are you reading, dear? Don't be getting distracted."

    Xigon looked over and, much to Ami's surprise, chuckled. "That section's hilarious."

    Magpie cocked her head. "I don't get it."

    "Here, bring it over." Xigon gestured to his lap. He turned his wheelchair slightly when Magpie gave him the book. "This is a collection of Kiiri's writings and illustrations. This section, to the untrained eye, doesn't make much sense, but once you know that Kiiri draws herself as a rabbit and me as a snake –" He pointed to an illustration of a laughing snake coiled up around a pouting rabbit's ears. "It becomes obvious that this whole segment is Kiiri complaining about me."

    Ami vaguely remembered Kiiri being one of the original Styzian order. She tried to follow the conversation. "And you're all right with that? A subordinate complaining about you?"

    "If they do it with spirit, from the heart – I actually love it." He sighed and smiled. "It shows a huge amount of strength in them, and it shows some level of comfort with me." He leaned back. "It means they're growing."

Magpie grabbed the book off his lap and wandered into the corner to keep reading. Ami snapped her fingers. "Magpie, bring me my tote, would you please?"

    Magpie reached over and picked up Ami's bag. But instead of bringing it over, she scrounged through it and pulled out an old needle.

    Ami raised her voice ever so slightly. "I told you to throw that out, dear."

    "Why?" Magpie turned the needle in her fingers. "Does Rizval have a disease?'

    Xigon's head snapped up. "Rizval? What were you doing with –?"

    "Only saving their life, you paranoid shit." Ami pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "You remind me of another terrible client. Magpie, I still need my tote."

    "Didn't some loud mouth once tell me to never bother someone who's reading?" Magpie stuck her nose back down into the book. "Oh, right. It was you."

    With a sigh, Ami went to fetch the tote herself. Before returning to Xigon's side, she snatched the old needle out of Magpie's hand.

    Xigon held his hand up. "Ami, what happened to Rizval?"

    "They got shot in a hunting accident." She repeated the lie Rizval had – for whatever reason – begged her to tell their masters. "They'll be all right, though. I made sure of it. In exchange, Channei agreed to let me see you."

    "Ami's the best healer," Magpie piped up. "The very best."

Ami chuckled. "Thanks." Then she dug through her bag to find a notebook and charcoal pencil. Inexplicable decline in upper limb strength, she wrote. Either that or the pt. is being characteristically uncooperative.

"I can see that, you know." Xigon sounded unamused.

"Wow, so can I." Ami scowled. "Quit reading over my shoulder or I'm confiscating your glasses."

"Hm." The man crossed his arms. "You know Qila won't be too happy to see you here either, right?"

    Ami smelled something odd. She leaned closer to Xigon and inhaled. "You're afraid of Qila."

    He flinched. "What?"

    "Plain to see and smell." She shrugged and wrote another note. Suspect ongoing violence. "Is she all right with the young ones, at least?"