Offbeats

The Council

Once I'm back in my room I suddenly feel way too exhausted considering how little I've done. I collapse on my bed and fall into a strangely dreamless sleep almost instantly.

Minutes or hours later, (it's hard to tell without any damn windows) a warm, calloused hand on my forehead jerks me awake and into attack mode as I kick out with my left foot. It connects, hard, with a whoof. I open my eyes and realise I kicked Kipp just above his special area.

I look up at him, my face turning red.

His eyes are almost bulging out of his head in shock. "Never," He breathes. "Do that again, please."

I cover my eyes with a hand. "I'm so sorry," I shift my hand away, daring a glance back up at him. "I just got startled." I narrow my eyes at him, wondering what he had been doing in the first place. "Say, uh, why were you...stroking my forehead anyway?"

He looks embarrassed, he bites his bottom lip briefly and looks away. "Sorry, I, uh-" He purses his lips slightly, as if deciding whether he should say something or not. He takes a step forward. I try not to flinch, suddenly slightly uncomfortable as I wonder whether this man has been petting me like a dog for hours. "I just saw this cut on your head. Honestly, I was checking whether you were alive. It looked pretty deep and you were lying so still." He bites his lip again, his face a little pained.

I reach up and touch a suddenly sore spot on my forehead. My fingers come back shimmering in a thin layer of blood. "What?" I whisper, sitting up, panicking a little. "How? I-"

"You don't need to worry." He steps closer, lifts his hand halfway towards me then changes his mind and drops it. Is it bad that I wish he hadn't? He opens his mouth to say more, then looks at me and immediately shuts it as if he realised who he was talking to.

I swallow a little uncomfortably and wipe my fingers against the leg of my pants, leaving a smear of red against the black material. I swing my legs off the mattress and Kipp offers me his hand. I take it, embracing it's warmth.

We stand in front of each other awkwardly before Kipp remembers the reason he came into my room in the first place. "Oh! I came to take you to the Council. Starts in a few minutes and everyone wants to finally meet you."

I look up at him, my eyes pleading. "Why?" His eyes look apologetic. "Why does everyone think I'm so important?"

He reaches out, but this time he doesn't stop himself as his hand cups my cheek. I can see in his eyes he wishes he could give me an answer. He clenches his jaw.

We stand there like that for a few minutes before he speaks again in a hushed whisper. "We should go." He drops his hand from my face and turns toward the door. The fire on my cheek sizzles and dies out as he does and I immediately miss his touch. "We'll swing by Doctor Grendi's first, so she can take a look at your head."

I follow him out of my room and he leads us down a new hallway.

***

The doctor seemed shocked to see me, looking up from her work at her desk and staring at me for a little too long. When I shifted uncomfortably she seemed to snap from her trance and asked Kipp what was wrong.

She efficiently cleaned the gash on my forehead and bandaged it. Every movement she made was purposeful. She was beautiful in an intense way. Her coffee-coloured skin was flawless, her cheekbones high and her dark almond-shaped eyes piercing.