Zodiacs' Academy

|8|

Ophiuchus POV

I stare at the ceiling, feeling nothing but pain coursing through my veins. I close my eyes and inhale, then open. And suddenly, there is someone towering over me.

It's a guy; the same guy who
called out in the crowd to Taurus.

"Are you okay?" He asks, kneeling next to me, his hand hanging over his knee.

"Does it like I'm okay?" I groan.

He chuckles. "Daniel," he says.

"Ophiuchus.." I say.

He reaches his hand out. I grab it and he pulls me up, his defined muscles flexing.

"Thanks," I say, wobbling. He catches me and straightens me up.

"Careful there," he says.

I give a half smile. "So..." I say.

"So," he copies, his hand hovering over my back just in case I stumble.

We make our way out of the ring slowly and begin walking outside.

"Where's your hotel room?" He asks.

"Room 8.715."

"Mm, floor eight? I have floor eight as well. Let's go to my room."

I hope he's not some kind of rapist because I'm not in the mood to fight someone right now.

We get to his room and he opens the door for me.

He signals to the couch and says, "sit,"

I do so and my eyes watch him as he precisely works with something. Five minutes later, he approaches me with a tray. He gets on his knees and murmurs, "Let's see what we have here..."

He takes a wet cloth and puts it over my eye. At first, I gasp at the sudden touch, but the cooling cloth relieves some pain. He releases the cloth with his teeth gritted. The cloth is now soaked in blood and it's only been a minute. I resist the urge to reach up and touch the bloody area around my eye.

He then gets up and sits next to me instead, the tray in his lap. I sit towards him.

"This is gonna burn, okay?" he says, dipping a cotton ball in clear liquid. I nod briefly, his green eyes glancing up at me.

He bites his lip and lifts the cotton from the liquid. "One, two..." he puts the cotton ball on a large laceration on my arm. I clench my fists to keep from screaming and shut my eyes tightly before my tears escape my eyes.

"I'm sorry," he says. "It'll prevent infection."

"Libra," I say through my pain. I have to make conversation so I don't feel it. "You belong in Libra."

"Huh?" he says, continuing to clean the wound.

I wince, but soon the sensation of this feels good. Just like the cloth, the cotton is cool. His fingers skim my arm, and his warm touch is comforting and distracting.

"You're smart, like a Libra. Or a careful like Capricorn."

"Who says I can't be strong?" he says defensively, but his tone suggests sarcasm.

I shrug. "Haven't really seen you in action. But you're so gentle.."

"Well, you're a girl."

I pull away my arm, offended. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, did that come out sexist?"

"Very!"

He laughs and takes my arm back, dipping the cotton and continuing to clean. "I didn't mean it like that, I meant you shouldn't have been hit. A guy shouldn't hit a lady, it's disrespectful and he should have known better."

"Why? 'Cause girls are so gentle and weak? I mean, why don't people let guys hit girls? We're not fragile glass that break if you tap 'em."

"No, of course not. We all have a soft side. I just like helping people. I didn't intend sexism," his voice is low and focused. In a way, it's attractive combined with the glances of his bright green eyes and his gentle hold of my wrist.

I look away and wait patiently for him to finish.

"Hold pressure," he hands me a new wet cloth and lifts it onto my eye. Although the pressure gives me sharp stabs of pain, I continue holding it until twenty minutes later, my bleeding stops.

He wraps gauze over the laceration and secures it. "All set, you can leave now." he says, walking towards the door.

"So that's it, you're just gonna stitch me up and kick me out?" I say, following him.

"Pretty much,"

"Okay, not even gonna leave me with a number to call?"

"You're asking for my number?" he raises his eyebrows and smiles in amusement.

"Was that not obvious? You know, just in case something like this happens again."

"Hmm, yeah, of course.. Or I could just take you out for some dinner tomorrow night?" he says.

"What time are you picking me up?" I pretend to be careless as I study my fingernails.

"8. Wear something nice," he winks, inserting his number and contact into my phone.

He closes the door. I bite my lip, walking away with a smile on my face. I just got a date with a cute, sweet, sensitive guy. One in a billion.

But then I realize I can't go because I wont be in the Taurus House tomorrow. Instead, I'll be in Gemini. And those two houses don't get along very well.