Priya entered the Kennel, having spent the entire day cleaning up the storage hut situated behind the main building. She smiled at the sight of Seia, who seemed to be leaning against the table, his back towards the door. ”You’re back,” she said smiling, while hanging her cloak and scarf on the wall. Seia didn’t turn to face her. ”Yes. I was at the tavern, here in town.” Priya stepped behind Seia, attempting to see over his shoulder, pondering what was he looking at on the table. There was nothing there. Seia turned his face slightly away from Priya, keeping on a regular conversation. ”You are well?”. Priya noted his strange evasive movement and quickly stepped towards where he had turned his face. Her eyes widened at the sudden sight of his crooked nose, covered in dry blood. ”What happened?!”.
”Nothing important. I promise. It was only a little fight.”, Seia explained.
Priya’s forefinger reached slowly towards his battered nose, before she suddenly decided to pull it back. ”A little fight? For what? With whom?”.
”It was not -for- anything. And it was with a woman at the Inn. I did not get her name.”
”A woman? What woman?! How did she look like? Why did you fight a woman?”
”I think she had a golden hair? We fought because we were taunting each other.”
Priya gasped, ”Why?!”
Seia pondered for a while before shrugging, ”It seemed fun.”
Priya eyed his nose in dark silence. Seia hesitated. ”Are you upset?”.
She replied quickly in a biting tone, ”Yes. Your nose is broken. And you consider it fun.”
Seia didn’t seem to understand her reasoning. ”Yes…?”
Priya opened her mouth, as if to say something, but closed it after a while, feeling everything that could be said on the topic, had been said - and not once, but hundred times. She felt it would be pointless to repeat them and so she decided to walk away, heading down at the basement to feed the hounds.
Seia followed in Priya’s trail and observed her quietly as she portioned food for the hounds. After handing out the meat, Priya laid the empty food-pot on the bench and looked at Seia, attempting to seem calm. ”Who started it?”
”She made the first contact, but I threw the first strike.”
Priya looked away, keeping the tone of her voice calm. ”So you like that?” She turned to look back at him before continuing. ”Would you like to fight me?”
”I could not hurt you.”
”Why? You said it was fun.”
”But I do not want to hurt you.”
Priya suddenly stepped forth and shoved Seia towards the wall.
He took a step back, blinking. ”What are you doing?”
”Having fun,” Priya replied, appearing serious in contrast to her words.
Seia frowned at her ”Are you making fun of me?”
She frowned back at him and shoved him again ”No. I’m trying to be fun.”
He grabbed her wrists to stop her from shoving him. ”It would not be fun to fight you.”
She attempted to yank her hands free, her frown deepening as she failed to do so. ”Why it was fun to fight her then? Why I am not fun?”
Seia tightened his grip around her wrists. ”You are fun. But different sort of fun. Fighting her was the fun we had in Harad. You make me forget about Harad.”
Priya blinked back tears. ”But you said you miss Harad. Let me fight you! You fight everyone else!”
She tried more fiercely to wriggle her hands free, but as she again failed to free her wrists from his grip, she tried to barge forth and hit him with her slender form. Seia let go of her hands and met her lunge by wrapping his arms around her. He pressed his cheek against hers and lowered his voice to a whisper ”But I don’t want to return. I want to stay here, with you.” Priya froze, feeling disarmed, yet she managed to mumble in a helpless tone ”Why do you fight then?”
