Just Another Day (OPEN)

[Ingrid]

The doctor nodded, sifting the finely ground herbs into a cup and mixing it with a blue green liquid that had the constancy of warm jell-o. Ingrid stayed out of the way, one shoulder leaning against the wall and arms crossed over her chest. She could have just as easily left the man in the care of the doctor and all would have been well, but she was relatively bored and she always did prefer the company of others, even if it was sour company like the kind the Hylian offered.

"Master? So what, he's a slave?" she gave both men a disbelieving look in turn. She was having a hard time wrapping her brain around the whole concept, it just seemed very far from anything she would have guessed. In dress and mannerisms he was noble, his stoic and biting attitude was far from perfectly regal and that aside she'd never seen a Hylian as a slave.

[Leoni]

Leoni continued to face the wall. He listened to the Doctor go about his business, the sound vaguely familiar. It was a sound he had heard his own master perform for him in a similar situation. His master had always been one for learning from other cultures--perhaps this was where he had learned such a remedy.

He heard the Zora ask about his status, and he allowed himself to frown in disgust, knowing that no one could see his face. He was not a slave. However, he was a servant--a noble one--and he thought this Zora was the type to treat him poorly because of it. Not that it would necessarily phase his own behaviour...he was still better than she was. However, it was disgusting to him that she would choose to talk about it.

He wasn't spoken to. So he wouldn't speak.

[Ingrid]

"No, Ingrid, he's a Noble Servant to a good friend of mine," The elder Zora's voice was rough, like scraping a large stone across gravel, she looked down at the man. She was trying to see him in a different light, imagining such a stubborn Hylian serving anyone but himself.

She brushed a tentacle over her shoulder, she did feel sympathy for the man, she had never believed it right for one being to have ownership of any kind over another, "So," she smiled wide, sure, the guy was a prick to her, but she was never one to give up. She knelt down next to his cot, close to his face should he look back over at her, "Did you escape then, Leoni?" She was completely serious, in no way trying to mock the situation of his life, she would have been glad if he'd escaped, taken his own liberty and began traveling the world like a free person should, able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

[Leoni]

Leoni didn’t roll over to look at the Zora, but he could hear her clearly. His eyes narrowed and he frowned angrily. He wasn’t surprised that this woman would be someone to speak without any sense of what she was talking about. There was no mockery in her tone, yet Leoni was offended. He respected no one as much as he respected his master—the man who had taken him in when he was still worthless, and who, despite the inappropriateness of it all, found it proper to teach Leoni all he now knows. He did not leave his master—his master had left him. Leoni was determined to find him. To do that, he would complete the studies that his master had been in the middle of, and had perhaps left to complete.

Leoni rolled over and sat up, avoiding looking at the Zora woman who was close to him. He struggled to lift himself off of the cot, his body wobbly. He stumbled, but tried to keep himself as composed as he possibly could. He glanced around—there was no trace of his belongings. A flash of annoyance and frustration went across his face. Figures. The Zora left all his things behind.

Removing this expression as soon as it came, Leoni bowed dutifully in the direction of the Doctor.

“Your forgiveness for speaking out of turn,” he said coldly, though flawlessly, “but if I may request to excuse myself from troubling you and your company without return? I would very much like to search for my belongings that seem to have been so carelessly misplaced, and I apologize for becoming such an inconvenience.”

[Ingrid]

The doctor looked at Ingrid and she shrugged, personally she'd thought little of his belongings, not that she would have been able to carry him and all his junk up the river anyway.

"Fine, drink this and you're free to go, Ingrid will swim you back to shore as I doubt you'll make it safely on your own just yet," The doctor handed over the glass and watched for the man to drink it, briefly glancing at her, noting with his eyes that this wasn't really an option. She rolled her own eyes, glad she had two seconds to rest before carrying this paper weight of a Hylian back. At least this trip would be easier since she wouldn't be swimming against the current.

[Leoni]

Leoni grimaced while his head was down in a bow, but replaced it with a blank expression as he stood up straight. He would have preferred to try and manage it back on his own. Maybe search for the aid of some other Zora, at the most. However...he was stuck with...this Zora for even longer. Despite any attempts she may have made, Leoni had no care or respect for her. He didn't want to be with her. He had chosen to leave in the hopes to get away from her. However, he nodded his head in understanding. He couldn't deny something as trivial as this to his superior.

All the bowing and nodding had made Leoni dizzy, and he staggered as he reached for the drink. Knowing he was being watched, Leoni drank it without hesitation. It didn't taste very good at all, but he was familiar with it. It wouldn't take long for Leoni to start feeling better...though still, what he really needed was rest.

When he was finished, he handed the glass back to the Doctor, and bowed his head. He turned to look at the other Zora--the annoying one.

"If you would be so kind," he said elegantly, though with a tinge of cruelty. "Please be more gentle on the way back as you were on the way here. I am nothing but the furniture and property of a Noble, and it is disrespectful on both the behalf of you and myself for me to be handled so carelessly."

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[Ingrid]

"Oh wow, I wish I cared," Ing gave the man a highly unamused glare before storming past both him and the doctor and throwing open the door. Behind her back the doctor gave Leoni an apologetic gaze before taking the glass and nodding for him to follow her.

Ingrid was standing at the edge of the platform, looking into the dark moving water. The mans last statement was upsetting her, that he honestly thought he was nothing more than the property of another. She could never imagine living in such away to believe she belonged to anyone, to be at the beckon call of a master.

"Come on, let's get this over with," She kneeled down for the man to get on the back like she'd carried him here in the first place, it just occurred to her this would be a little more awkward now that he was relatively conscious.

[Leoni]

As she stormed passed him, Leoni smirked. He hadn't quite expected her to get so worked up over his mocking, but he was pleased that he was finally able to repay with nearly the same amount of frustration as she had given to him. And now, she was forced to be with him as opposed to doing it out of the kindness of her heart. If Leoni had to be with her, he would at least treat her as she deserved.

He turned in the direction of the doctor, the smirk completely vanished from his face. He nodded his head ever slightly to indicate that an apology wasn't necessary, and then bowed on his dismissal. Without another word or look, Leoni left.

He found the Zora standing by the water, and he stood behind her. He observed her clear distress, and for a moment, wondered why exactly she was so upset. He shouldn't have offended her quite enough for it to make this much of an impression--he had said worse things earlier. Perhaps she was just embarrassed, it having been in the presence of the Doctor.

Leoni wobbled on his feet. His mind was relatively clear now, but his body was still tired and weak, and he knew he'd need to rest soon. He watched as she knelt down with her back towards him, and he smirked again. His eyes dazzled mischievously, and he twisted his handsome face and posture into one of mocking cruelty, like a child might before playing his prank.

"Ohh," he whined melodramatically, "I have to actually get on your back? But it's all...Zora-y. You know? Can I have a blanket? You know, maybe one of those things they put on horses? Hm...well, my jacket would suffice. Oh! Right, you left that all the way down where we started, didn't you? Hm...this is troublesome." Immediately, Leoni dropped this persona and returned to his emotionless self. He didn't matter what she would do or say--if she had any respect for the Doctor, she would force herself to tolerate him.

Leoni stepped forward and knelt down, placing his arms on her shoulders. It might have been awkward, but Leoni chose to not feel that way. Instead, he said simply: "I forgive you for leaving my things behind."

[Ingrid]

Ingrid grabbed his arms roughly, as he draped himself over her back, she bit her tongue when he mocked her, he wasn't really worth the energy to argue. "I wasn't apologizing" She couldn't have cared less if she'd sank is stupid belongings in the lake, but she didn't say more as she plunged into the water without warning, no 'Hold your breath,' or 'Here we go," just forward and down.

The sank a few feet before she started kicking, staying underwater a little longer than would be comfortable for the Hylian, just to spite him and his bad attitude and in her own little way she was saying 'gee, if you were a Zora this wouldn't be a big deal, you dumb land dweller.

She followed the branches slow current out to the main stream, moving faster as she swam towards the lake. Finally she dipped under the water again as the sound of the falls became deafening and when they resurfaced the lake spread out before them. Taking her sweet time she made her way to the shore, finding an incline of land and followed it up until they both could walk then she promptly dropped the Hylian.

Maybe she should have just walked away, gone back to her business, left the man to his own miserable life, but instead she swirled around to punch him hard in the face.

[Leoni]

Leoni landed on the ground roughly as he was dropped, and he winced ever slightly before recomposing himself. He lifted himself to his feet, dripping with water and his white shirt clinging to his skinny frame. He ignored the wet hair that clung to his face. It had been a particularly rough journey back through the water, it being made quite clear to him that he wasn’t appreciated. Which was fine. He never asked for her help in the first place.

Being back at the lake’s edge, Leoni felt the inner pain start up again. It wasn’t as strong as it was earlier, due to traces of the plant and the Doctor’s medicine being in his system. He was exhausted, though, and despite all he tried, this was visible in his face.

Then, the Zora’s fist came flying at his face. Instinctively, he grabbed onto the pocket-watch and removed it from around his neck, and managed to catch her fist with his other slender hand. As he did so, he stumbled. He wasn’t particularly powerful, but he was well-trained enough to be able to block such an obvious direct assault. He stared at her, blank emotion replaced with a serious expression.

“Oye, oye,” he said coolly. “Even you should know better, I would think, than to break someone else’s property. Do you think it would have been acceptable if I had damaged an item of the Doctor’s? Or perhaps it’d be all right if I lay harm to the property of your queen?” He dropped her fist. He wouldn’t hit her back—it had taken all the strength he had to stop her blow in the first place. He continued to glare at her in the same way a teacher might glare at his pupil, with no cruelty, but with stern.

“Use your head,” he said, “and stop acting like a child. Don’t get so upset at petty statements, and learn to control yourself when you do. Do you often suffer from such a temper?”

Normally he wouldn’t give such a lesson to an individual, but he had been quite taken by surprise. He had been saying cruel things to her from the very beginning, and he was fully aware of this. However, she was the first person to actually become so…enraged at him, as if what he said had actually offended her at some deeper level. He didn’t care much for her feelings, but being prideful himself, he did care for her personal reputation. As cruel as he was, Leoni was never one to destroy an individual in any way, and preferred to walk away and leave people just as he had met them, if given the option. Not that he would take the blame for it, otherwise.

He held onto his pocket-watch tightly and wobbled on his feet. He had no plan to enter into an actual fight with her, but he had just been assaulted, and she could get in trouble for that. More trouble even, than if he was just a regular passer-by—he knew how the systems worked. But he didn’t want to report her to anybody. His eyes narrowed as he stared at her, his breathing becoming heavy. He needed rest.

[Ingrid]

"You stupid ass!"She pulled her fist away from his hand, he clearly didn't see why she was upset. She took advantage of his wobbly state and shoved his shoulders with hopes of knocking him back into the water.

"You're not a piece of furniture! You're a living, breathing person!" how could he even believe he belonged to somone, like he was nothing better than a side table or a set of silverware. And of course it only futher infuriated her that he believed she was nothing but property to Queen Rutella, but even believing that they both were belongs to someone of a higher nature he still treated her like garbage, "Have some self respect, you're not a thing to just be tossed aside when your master is done with you, you're a Hylian, you're supposed to be the most honored of all our lands races,"

Ingrids webbed hands were balled into fists, her blue-green skin flushed with anger, he could have mocked her all he wanted, she would never have cared this much, but to honestly and truly believe he and she were just items, things owned by other people, she couldn't even accept such an idea. She was her own person, she did what she wanted, when she wanted and by no ones whims but her own.