Shady

Pratik shrugged. “… one can hope… but I’m not holding my breath.” Ky tensed as Ivar started interrogating Gaius. He always seemed so angry. She was careful to keep Tadaaki ...

“Yeahhh.” Pratik said with a grimace. “We’ll see how it goes.” Ky was anxious. About being here. About the earthquake. About… well… everything. Could she claim a need for the ...

Why was he mad at him? He’d been tasked with getting people, not interrogating Sera and Ada. If that’s what he wanted, he should have said so. “Yes. They’re coming.” ...

Pratik smiled. “You should! You deserve rest.” “I honestly don’t know, sorry.”

“I honestly don’t know, sir,” Tadaaki said. “Sera told me to go gather the others so I did. I didn’t ask questions.” “It makes sense,” Pratik said with a nod. ...

“In the infirmary.” Tadaaki cringed. “She looks… rough.” “I mean, besides all this…?” Pratik gestured vaguely. “Fine, I guess. A little restless I suppose. And you?”

Pratik ducked his head. He was acting like a child. Tadaaki and Ky were to the doors of the dining hall. “I don’t want to,” she whispered. “I don’t care.” ...

“I…” he huffed again and buried his hands even further into his pockets. “I’m trying.”

Pratik glanced ahead too, then looked back at Rickard. He didn’t see her almost passed out on the floor bleeding from all orfices like he had. But he didn’t want ...

He let them pass. It hardly bothered him to piss people off. He was a mercenary after all — that generally wasn’t well received. He glanced at Rickard. “You okay?”

“Downstairs,” he pointed out.

Pratik had concluded that he got sent away because he was annoying them. So he decided to make an active effort to stop and buried his hands in his pockets ...

Pratik continued pacing, listening as hard as he could in case someone needed help. Gods. What was wrong with him? He needed to snap out of this. He needed to. ...

Fine. He’d go downstairs. Like he was told. But he wasn’t told where he had to go. So he paced by the stairs, technically obeying. He was good at technicalities.

“Thank you.” Tadaaki nodded and went back to the hall to continue his trek. Pratik looked at her a moment longer. Was she in charge of him, now that Gaius ...