The Hidden Crystal

Chapter 52

"Ah, that felt good," Rath said an hour later, walking back into the living room in just a towel.

"Rath," Char reprimanded him, frowning.

"What? She's unconscious anyway," Rath said dismissively. "And even if she woke up right now, she'd like what she sees."

Char rolled his eyes. "Go put some clothes on."

"Nope. I'm finally clean for the first time in days, and I am not ruining that by putting dirty, sweaty clothes on. You could stand a bath, too." He smirked. "Then Iris could wake up to two hot guys in towels and tell us who she prefers."

"You're such an idiot."

"Hey, I know what I've been told, and girls like this," he replied, gesturing to himself. "And they were all over you at that one party where you took your shirt off." A sly grin spread over his lips. "Has Iris ever seen you shirtless?"

"No," Char said firmly. "And it smells like the fairies are done cooking, so you should go get something to eat."

"Not without you. Come on. The fairies are ready to get to work on her, but they can't do anything with you hanging around."

Char dropped his gaze to Iris' still form, running his fingers through her hair. The fairies who weren't busy in the kitchen were hovering anxiously around her. Rath crossed his arms over his chest and frowned down at Char.

"Char."

"Fine," he muttered, carefully lifting her head as he eased off the sofa, replacing his lap with a cushion.

Rath clapped him on the shoulder and steered him toward the kitchen. "Come on. She'll be fine. I'm starting to think it's not possible to kill her."

Square seemed to be the theme of the dwarven home. Square table, square chairs, square counters and cabinets. Although the dwarves carved the rooms out of stone, the materials of choice for all the furniture and fixtures were heavy woods and cobblestone bricks. Char and Rath sat down at the table in the familiar but different cave kitchen for a filling meal of meat and potatoes.

"I do love a good adventure, but I also love three meals a day," Rath said between bites. "Actual, hot, cooked, good-tasting meals."

"Agreed."

"It wouldn't kill you to take a bath after this and try to relax a bit, too," Rath continued.

"I'm not going to relax until I know she's okay," Char replied.

Rath groaned, exasperated. "You've got to stop beating yourself up. Nothing that happened to her was your fault, and you've been doing everything you could for her since you met her. Yeah, she's been through some horrible stuff, but it could have been worse."

"How?" Char asked sharply.

Rath sighed. "Well, let's see. If you hadn't interfered, Micah would have snatched her up straight from Little Rest, and she would have been completely alone, with nobody to help her at all. I kind of think that would have been worse, don't you?"

Char frowned and stabbed his food a bit harder than necessary. "I guess."

Rath rolled his eyes. "Okay, here's what's going to happen. You're going to finish eating, and then you're going to go take a hot bath and at least pretend you like it. Then, you're going to start the fire in your bedroom - because these dwarves loved their fireplaces, and there happens to be one in every bedroom - and you're going to climb under the covers to cuddle with Iris, and then, I don't care. You can cry, you can mope, you can beat yourself up all you want. That's your business. I'll be in my room, getting a good night's sleep. And in the morning, if she wakes up, you'll be thanking me for telling you to take that bath, because she won't want to wake up to a stinky guy."