The Music Box

Chapter 12: Argon

Argon shifted in his makeshift bed, trying to get comfortable. His body was sore, and his cuts burned. His leg didn't help too much either, nor did the hunger pains. His small tail that hid in his left pants leg was starting to bug him. The pesky feathers that would grow on his jawline, on his elbows up to his forearms, and on his outer thighs were starting to pop up again, and because Argon hated them, he plucked them. Which hurt badly, so now those areas were incredibly sensitive. His nose was runny. He had made a small fire near his bed, which had been long dead since morning. The bedding he laid in was made of moss and a few leaves that he gathered before he turned in the night before. It was rather comfortable, actually. His thoughts wandered aimlessly, jumping from things like "Where's Runora?" to "Some tea would be nice right now". The night he met the Rachel girl, he had felt something in the back of his head. It was constantly there now, like Runora's presence, and felt like a headache was slowly trying to take form.

Something in his mind told him someone was coming, and he lifted his head and took a few deep breaths, getting a hint of blackberries, dirt and cinnamon in the air. The dull presence in his mind grew to a small degree.

"Hey, cap! I'm back!" The Rachel girl called as the sound of rocks tumbling followed her. He could hear her running closer, and he put on his mask before she got to the entrance of the cave. She wore a backpack with something sticking out of the top, and a bright smile was spread from ear to ear. "I brought some stuff that might help you out a bit, and something for you to do if you get bored."

He tilted his head as she got closer, bracing himself just in case she decided to do something stupid. She dropped her bag in front of him, pulling out a few things and telling him what they were for.

"This is your deodorant, and you put it under your arms so you don't sweat that much and you don't smell bad... I'm pretty sure you know what this is: an angry toothbrush. And his accomplice: feindish toothpaste... Soap just in case you want to bathe or clean your clothes. With that, I brought some shampoo and conditioner that you scrub in your hair to clean it... Do you even have hair under--wait, yeah you do. My bad. You have a lot of hair, actually. Geez, I didn't even notice that at the back it went all the way to your shoulders. How blind am I, right? Hehe..."

He squinted, and he kept his voice gruff like before. "... How blind are you?"

"Not at all, just another expression." She smiled at him, and for some reason, he began to feel fuzzy inside... Fuzzy?

"You have a nice smile."

Rachel girl looked up again, and this time there was a tint of pink dusted over her cheeks. She grinned more and laughed a little nervously. He felt his own lips twitch upwards.

"Thank you," she turned her head away from him, sifting through her bag again. "Uh... I brought some teabags, if you'd like some. I also brought two mugs so we can share, and a water bottle to make the tea."

"Huh."

"What?"

"I was just thinking about how nice some tea would be."

She smiled a smile that made him feel warm, though he kept his guard up. "I brought some cinnamon tea. It makes me think of Fall, and seeing it's the season, I figured it was perfect."

He sat up and leaned against the wall of the cave as she pulled out some more items.

"This is a spoon, a fork... Hey, speaking of this stuff, do you still have my knife that I..." She grew quiet.

"Yes."

Rachel girl kept her gaze away from his eyes and stared at the mask's snout. "Can... I have it back?"