Healed

Chapter 8

"Well?" Flame asked impatiently. Umber swallowed hard and finally sputtered out an answer.

"I was worried about you." He hesitated. "So I decided to come and see if you were alright." The sheepish smile Umber flashed him made Flame's ear twitch and he snorted.

What a fucking lie.

"Yeah, right. What's the real reason you're here?" Flame snapped and Umber stared at him like a dull sheep.

"I-uh, that's my reason," the MudWing spoke with a wary tone. Flame growled.

Liar.

Everyone's a fucking liar. Stonemover, Marrowseer....actually all NightWings would go onto that list BUT MY POINT IS STILL VALID. Everyone's an asshole and that's life.

Flame sat up in his bed and looked down at Umber. Smoke coiled from his nostrils and he noticed Umber tucking his wings in close. When Flame spoke it was in a low growl.

"Don't lie to me, MudWing. Don't pretend you care. I know you hate me. I know you FEAR me. The only reason you help me in the kitchen is because it's related to food. So answer the question. Why. Are. You. Fucking. Here?"

"Uh, well, I..." Umber struggled to find his words and Flame enjoyed watching the MudWing squirm.

"Jeez, leave the kid alone would ya?" The stupid SandWing that was supposed to be guarding Flame spoke up.

Flame sent a hiss her way. "Stay out of this, sand-snorter." He leapt from the bed and jumped in beside Umber. "And who the hell invited you in here?" he asked the SandWing. "Get out of my fucking room!"

With a dark expression the SandWing nodded and left, leaving Flame, Umber, and Starfish alone. Starfish was currently trying to figure out how to put the leg back onto the chair and Umber was watching the SandWing leave warily.

Flame turned to Umber. "That goes for you as well. Get. Out."

Umber jolted. "Oh. Right. Sure...." he trailed off and Flame turned away to crawl back into bed. All he wanted to do was curl up and be left alone. Why did everybody suddenly decide to barge in like it was some sort of party?  Assholes. Can't they see I just want to be left alone?

Umber headed for the door then paused. "Oh wait! I have something of yours!" he chirped and pulled something out from under his wing. Flame rolled his eyes and looked over but gasped slightly when he saw what the MudWing was carrying.

"My graphicoll! What the hell, Umber? Did you steal it?" He leaped forward and snatched the scroll from Umber.

"I didn't take it! You dropped it during the fight." Umber quickly answered but Flame ignored him. He made his way over to the window and examined the graphicoll in the light. There were some dirt smudges but other than that everything was intact. Flame sighed in relief.

"So what is it?" Umber's voice suddenly appeared right behind him and Flame jumped.

Flame tucked the graphicoll away under his wing, feeling embarrassed and a little self-conscious. In the past, anytime he had brought up his graphicolls he had either been mocked or the other dragon had shown no interest what-so-ever.

"It's nothing. Now didn't I tell you to leave?"

By now Starfish was listening in to the conversation with interest. "Is that one of those...oh what did you call them....grapolls that you are always are reading?" Starfish asked. Flame ground his teeth together.

"They're called graphicolls...and yes." Flame's answer was curt and he had hoped that the conversation would end there. His hopes were, yet again, dashed by Umber and his stupid face.