As the weeks passed, rumours of the most eligible bachelor in Ark grew only further. He had been blessed by the Spirit with a mysterious job that was said to manipulate a person’s life force. Many agreed that he was a handsome youth with impeccable tableside manners, and his future prospects were blindingly bright.

Exill was more than happy to treat his ‘fan club’.

They were quickly proving to be a significant portion of his revenue. Regulars would often drop by, bemoaning their clumsiness while clutching their scrapes. All he had to do was administer light first aid with compassion. Treating a small scratch was vastly more preferable over amputating a bloody limb. Everything was going well, except Luna and Old Savta were treating him differently.

“How long are you going to continue prostituting yourself. Have you no shame as a healer?” Old Savta bitingly burst out during dinner, no longer able to contain her disdain.

One of his ‘Regulars’ had come in today complaining of a bump in her bosom. Concerned it was cancer, he had pressed his fingers against her chest searching for a mass. All told, the bump in question had been her nipple. Savta was sure the rumour would spread and soon everyone in the fan club would complain of similar ailments.

“You are single handedly ruining the sanctity of our profession! You are ruining the good name of this clinic! I want you to leave if you’re going to flirt with patients all day!”

Luna nodded aggressively. Today had been beyond indecent. A blush threatened to overwhelm her as she remembered Exill standing behind the patient, gently pressing his fingers into the woman’s chest with a faraway look in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Exill was outraged they were trying to take away an important stream of revenue. But he had to admit his ‘fan club’ was becoming more risqué and resourceful as time went by. He didn’t doubt they would fake injuries in other… more intimate areas.

“Fine! But I want to increase my share from 50% to 70%”

“Bah! Are you foolish child? After all I’ve given you, you would steal the bread off Luna’s plate?”

“This has nothing to do with Luna! I’ve paid my debts to you and even repurchased the equipment you funded. I ask just a little compensation for the significant revenue stream I’m about to abandon.”

“Hmph! 60%”

“Deal.”

Old Savta chewed on her lips, unwilling to admit her loss. She made one final malicious jab at Exill, with Luna suffering collateral damage, “I don’t know what you find so enjoyable about massaging a stranger’s bosom. Especially when you have such a fine pair in front of you.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Nana NO!”

Old Savta cackled as the two youngsters excused themselves from the meal. Her precious granddaughter had grown increasingly withdrawn over the past weeks and it was good to see some colour return to her face. Savta’s eyes turned calculatingly towards the lad’s back as he washed dishes with Luna.

‘Man-whores like him need to be tightly leashed.’

***

“Are you really going to stop treating your fan club?” Luna asked tentatively as she wiped moisture off a dish.

“Yeah… they were getting hard to handle. I also didn’t like how you and Savta acted around me. You know you haven’t taught me a single new herbal recipe in the past week?”

“Who would want to teach such a… m-man whore!” Luna exploded, slapping Exill with a dish towel to emphasize her words.

Exill blinked. His eyebrows rose to their peak in surprise and kept on climbing. Hearing the usually shy girl calling him an expletive, and hitting him, awoke something strange within him. ‘Man-whore? This doesn’t sound like her vocabulary.’

“Have you been learning bad words from Nana?” Exill peered back at Savta who was still staring daggers at his back.

“No… oh my gosh! I’m sorry. I just overheard a patient call you that when they saw a ‘fan’ entering your room. It just made me really angry.” Luna’s eyes were downcast, mortified by her outburst.

Exill finished cleaning the dishes first. He was secretly glad about her earlier outburst because it expressed her honest feelings. They had grown close over the past few weeks, but an undercurrent of tension remained every time he treated a ‘fan club’ patient. It was only now that he had realised she was putting up with hurtful rumours about his practice.

Playfully wiping his sudsy hands dry on the back of her blouse, he grinned at her mischievously, “It’s alright, thank you for watching out for me.”

***

Exill was about to turn off the lights and go to sleep when he saw Luna climb up the ladder cradling a large tome in one hand.

“Were you about to go to sleep?” she asked, her hands hovering over the edge of the ladder.

“No, what’s up?”

“I know I’ve been ignoring you Exill, I couldn’t sleep because of what you said earlier and wanted to teach you a few recipes.”

She crouched down next to him and opened the tome to a page. The warm glow from the lamp lit her soft earnest features as she flipped through the tome. She tucked her hair behind one ear and gestured to a recipe useful for Enchanters.

“I know how your eyes light up whenever we talk about enchantments so I thought you would enjoy this…” Luna went on explaining how some ingredients could be substituted for others, but he couldn’t hear a thing. Their proximity, intimacy, and even the lamp glow served to funnel all his attention to the woman sitting next to him.

“Hey dummy, are you listening?” Luna asked, suddenly conscious of the way he was strangely looking at her, causing her heart to flutter. Hearing no response, she continued, “…I shouldn’t have come here so late, maybe we should do this tomorrow.” She tried to get up, but he gripped her waist, pulling her back down and into him.

“Sorry, I was lost in thought; I promise to listen.” Exill didn’t know why, but he didn’t want her to leave. His heartbeat thundered audibly in both ears.

Luna was similarly caught off guard as she felt herself press warmly against him. The sensation of his strong arms embracing her sent butterflies cascading through her stomach. Not trusting her voice, she broke eye contact first and gestured to a random page titled ‘compost enrichment'.

“Please read this section and um... repeat what ingredients could be substituted.”

The two lay side by side, propped up on their elbows as they distractedly studied the tome under the waning lantern light.