me that Rio was much older than he appeared to be.
Now that we were talking, many questions were pushing their way out of my mouth. I prioritized quickly. I had to find out what happened to the other individual injured by the fight in the dragon’s pit.
“Where’s Le - the dragon-kin?” I asked.
Bolivar smiled, “Our friend has been returned to his previous residence to tend his own wounds.”
“Can I help him with that?”
Now that the nausea had passed, I was feeling much better. The peaceful feeling that had filled me earlier was back again. Healing the small wounds that Levent bore would be no big deal at all after repairing a broken bone, and I suddenly felt like I could do anything. It would also clear my conscience a bit to help the dragon-kin, seeing as he probably would not have gotten slapped around so much if I had not distracted him by falling into the pit in the first place.
The captain shrugged and offered a hand to help me up, which I accepted graciously. The trip down to the storage room was nearly interrupted by another fit of nausea, but I fought it back without incident this time. Perhaps I was just prone to seasickness after healing. I could not bring myself to worry about it.
Bolivar knocked on the door, a gesture of politeness that had not been offered previously, before opening it. Levent sat on the floor inside, working to tie a bandage around his head with little success. He looked up, his eyebrows raised in mild surprise.
“Um. Can I help you with that?” I said.
To my surprise, the kin’s eyes narrowed and he turned away before grunting, “I’m fine.”
I watched as he took the bandage away from his head to start his wrapping process over again, shivering as I saw the blood that had already soaked into it. Though the dragon-kin was obviously quite resilient, he had suffered head trauma twice in so many days. Worry welled up within me.
“It’s no big deal.” I tried my best to not sound overly concerned. I stepped forward, reaching toward him. “At least let me check-“
“I’m fine,” he repeated a little louder, not meeting my eye. His hand whipped out to stop mine, quickly knocking it out of the way.
The happy feeling was gone. Did he loathe my concern for him so much?