"So skinny."Leon winced but squeezing his lids together did little to improve his fuzzy vision. He sighed, it"s not like he couldn"t recognise the poisonous voice. He waded out of the lake, his cheeks turning a slight shade of red as he thought of his nakedness being exposed. Not that he could do much about it. He couldn"t cover those parts and drag his feet through the muddy basin of the lake and he didn"t want to tell the Little Lord to turn around as he couldn"t be sure that he was even bothering to look at him.
His dual coloured hair coated his back like a soaked cloak, shielding him to some extent as he stretched his arms out to locate the tree where he had placed his things. Its rough bark appeared at his fingertips as a thick line of darkness altered the brown and green mess in his vision.
"What are you doing?" That man asked as Leon recalled the position of his interspatial bag and reached towards it.
"I can"t s-see," Leon replied. "I n-need my gla.s.ses." He frowned. Where was the bag? This was the correct tree… wasn"t it?
"You mean these?" Leon turned toward the sound of his voice. Again, he futilely squinted, barely making out where the little Lord was by the splash of red in his vision.
"P-please give them t-to me," Leon said, his body shivering as the cold water mixed with the breeze upon his naked skin. He reached out with one hand, even as his other became tucked against his body, curling further beneath his hair as he stood. It was wet and heavy, yet so thick to provide some shelter from the wind.
As if bored of trying to tease him, the gla.s.ses were thrust upon his face. His vision focused immediately and he could see the man standing in front of him, arms crossed and looking displeased. Leon thanked him but this only caused this displeasure to increase for some reason. "Yes, well," he said. "You should put clothes on." Leon silently agreed and put his outer robes straight over his wet form, before straining water from his hair as best he could.
****
Leon lit the fire and began to roast the fish over the flames. He hummed contentedly as he sorted out a few pills that he would take to the Herb Hall when he took the mushrooms to the kitchens of the Food Hall. The Little Lord was rummaging through his small possessions. "Have you no spare clothes?!" He seemed incensed when his search revealed nothing.
"No, I h-had to get r-rid of them," Leon replied.
"Why?"
"B-b-blood stains w-wouldn"t c-come out," a pained expression fell over Leon"s face as he spoke. The Little Lord stared at him, but did not pester him further. Instead he chose to complain about something else.
"Ah, I am hungry."
"B-breakfast w-will be ready s-soon," Leon advised him and went outside to check how the fish were cooking. He sat upon the weathered stump beside the fire and turned the fish, before withdrawing his carving knife. Without thought, he took a larger piece of wood from the pile and began to carve away the bark. He began to hum again as he did so, not noticing that the Little Lord had sat cross legged upon the ground close to him. His elbow rested upon his knee and hand clenched in a fist supported his chin as he glared at Leon with impatience. Leon sighed, inwardly. "What is your n-name?" Leon suddenly asked him.
The man looked slightly startled, but hid it swiftly. "Since you have served me well, so far, this Lord will honour you with my name. I am called Jin Li."
"Jin Li," Leon echoed as he picked up one of the cooked fish from the spit. "B-breakfast is ready."