Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 6)

Ky smiled sheepishly, pleased that he wasn't upset at her attempts. "I do plan on learning while I'm here."

"Good. You smart, you learn quick." He nodded approvingly, then looked at Gaius. "You teach her?"
"No." Gaius shook his head. "Someone else, but he speaks excellent Nortung."

Ky nodded in agreement, mind flicking towards Rickard. She briefly considered how utterly miserable he would be to standing out here right now, and then wondered how Emery was faring with watching all this.

She was excited to learn. And even more so, now that she had motivation for learning. She hoped one of the others could remember how to pronounce Rönn's second name, because she certainly didn't, even now. But she'd practice.

"He from North?"
"South. But he's had an entire lifetime of learning languages. He won't steer her wrong," Gaius promised. Rönn nodded, then looked back toward the woods.
"I go," he said reluctantly. "Stag very good, but should find more for eating. I not like talking with less than bear in stomach. You safe, but I worry anyhow."

"I appreciate it," Ky said with a nod. Yet another piece of evidence that Ruh-- Rönn -- was thoroughly decent. That he was making sure she stayed well out of the reach of his hunger. She pulled the medicine and bandages out of her pocket and took a step towards him. "Do you want these? I can change your dressings if you want... or you can just take them. Whatever you like."

"I take." He stepped forward to meet her in the middle and took the dressings. "I try to put on myself, see how it goes. Thank you." He looked down at his hooves. "Foots feeling lots better."

Ky's gaze lingered on the bracelet for a long moment, mind reveling at the fact that he was actually wearing it -- and then smiled up at him. "I'm glad to hear it."

"Thank you again." He twitched toward her as if to hug her, then stopped himself. "I very stinky," he said with an apologetic grin. "Not want to make you stinky too."

That's all it took to tip the scales in favor of a hug. Her body still fought and she felt awkward, but she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He smelled terrible. But, well, so did a dog, if they didn't get a bath every so often -- and it didn't make people love dogs any less.

Rönn flinched, completely thrown by her sudden display of affection. He looked down at her, then at Pratik, Zander, and Gaius. Then he returned the embrace, very aware of his own scent, and wiped at his eyes again.
Gaius almost moved forward to stop Ky, partially because he was concerned for her safety and partially because he didn't want her to offend him if the smell was too much for her. He usually considered himself to have a pretty strong stomach, but the Marrow Man could reasonably be called the Rotten Guts Man as well.

Zander had also flinched, fully out of fear for Ky getting that near to him. What the hell was she doing? She was pushing her luck, that's what.

Pratik wasn't sure who he should be looking at. He also had half an impulse to stop her, then quickly dismissed the idea -- it was her body, after all, who was he to tell her how she could or couldn't use it? It's not like she'd be harder to kill if Rönn had to take two steps forward to get her than it would her giving him a hug. None of them could do shit to keep her safe if Rönn decided he was no longer interested in being friendly, with or without the hug.

He caught Zander's slight movement in the corner of his eye, and snapped his head towards him, glaring with a don't you fucking dare expression on his face. Zander met his gaze, then forced himself to take a deep breath and fold his hands in front of him. The damage was done now. There wasn't anything he could do about it, so no point in risking offending him, especially with Ky in his grasp.

Okay, he smelled even worse than Ky had originally realized, so she just resolved to only hold the hug for as long as she could hold her breath, then she stepped away, giving him an awkward smile.

"I tell you before," Rönn said sheepishly. "Maybe I wash before next time. Sorry."

Ky shrugged, genuinely not upset in the least. Yeah, it stunk unbearably badly being right next to him. But her stomach was only a little unsettled, and it was already better taking a step away from him. And it was worth it. She wasn't sure how she felt about the actual physical sensation of having his body against hers -- that confused her more than the smell, in terms of whether she was okay with it or not. But he needed a hug. Everyone needed a hug sometimes. "I needed a bath anyway."

"You very, very brave." He fiddled with the bracelet around his wrist. "Very brave. I miss hugs."

Ky smiled a little, now 100% certain that she'd made the right choice. She was going to have to get used to the idea of it. It was this odd mixture between how it felt to hug a horse and how it felt to hug a man, with the added confusion of him being able to return the embrace. Still. "Lucky for you I like hugs."