After the run in with the concerned mother and what I guess is now my new student, Kala and I took our little breather that we had planned. As soon as we were in the room I flopped onto my cot and released a long sigh. Kala, instead of getting on her own bed, decided to use me as one again, dropping on top of me with her head resting right below my chin and her toes hanging off the end.
“Really?” I said with a half-smile at her.
“Are you complaining? Do I need to demote you to a warming rock again?” She shot her own teasing smile at me.
“Oh, so I was promoted huh?”
“Why do think I'm letting you speak right now? Rocks don’t talk, remember?”
I chuckled. “How could I forget?” My arms snaked their way underneath hers and wrapped themselves around her body in a cuddle. The sound of her sighing very contently as I did so met my ears.
“So glad I gave you that promotion, rocks don’t hug you back either.” A little more mirth escaped me before releasing a sigh of my own. We had no intention of sleeping, it was the middle of the day after all, our goal now was just to enjoy a little time together while we relaxed.
As we laid there, I traced small circles across her scales, feeling the unique texture beneath my fingers. She returned the favor and stroked along my arm, examining the hairs there and even twisting them up a bit. She giggled a little after playing with them for a minute.
“Hair is so funny. It tickles and is soft. How do you not just laugh all the time with it all over you?”
“I guess when you’re born with it you don’t really feel it all that much. I like your scales too, they’re very smooth, almost like a polished stone.”
“Thank you! I was worried that my scales may have become marred since I wasn’t able to take proper care of them.” She reached up and ran a hand over my stubbly face, even feeling over my scar a little. “The hair on your face is a lot rougher.”
“Yeah, was thinking I needed to find a way to get rid of it.”
“Aww, but I want you to be fuzzier.” She complained in a very childlike manner.
“Oh really, are you sure about that?” I gave her a tug and pulled her up, so her neck was accessible. With my target now in range, I began to rub my chin and cheek all over the exposed part of her.
“AHH! No! Stop, stop, HAHAHAHA!” She started laughing like crazy and wiggling, desperately trying to break free. The craziness was eventually forced to stop when I heard my bed creak uncomfortably beneath us. She lay on top of me panting as she came down from all the laughter. “Okay, you can get rid of the face hairs.” She said in a wispy out of breath voice.
“Oh, it’s too late for that, I'm keeping them now.” I said with a devious grin on my face.
She let out a groan. “You are evil sometimes you know.”
“I finally have a way to get back at you for treating me like a rock before. Now you have to weigh the risks and the rewards. Warm cuddle time could quickly become scratchy neck tickles.”
“You’re a demon! How dare you ruin warm cuddle time with your dastardly antics!”
I laughed in my best villainous style. “My oh my, if it isn’t the consequences of your actions.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it.”
“Hmm, maybe.” I said while constricting her a little tighter. We let ourselves fall back into silence for a little while, resuming our casual exploration of the other’s body. All in all, we were probably in there for maybe a half-hour. After a while I gave her a little pat and started to roll off the bed. She took the hint and stood, letting us both come to our feet.
I stretched a little bit, shaking off the light-headedness that came with it. “Does warm cuddle time really have to end?” Kala asked as she did her puppy dog eyes to try to convince me to lay back down.
Her attempt made me smile, but I was going to start my attempt at creating a bridge. “Unfortunately, yes. You wanted me to start trying to change people’s opinions about me, so I was going to give it a try.”
She dropped the begging look, coming back to a more normal expression. “Oh, that’s good, what did you have in mind.”
“Well, we agreed on small at first, so the plan was to see if I could help prepare or serve up lunch. I have some experience in catering, so maybe it could be used for this. I’m just a little worried that my attempt will either be immediately shot down or will just be inviting more attacks on myself. Really, I’m still not completely convinced that I should do this at all.”
“If anyone insults you while you are trying to do something good, then I'll pull out their tongue so they can't say anything again. If they raise a fist to strike you, then I'll bite their fingers off, so they won't be able to make one.” The severity of the threats coupled with the supporting, kind gaze she was giving was an oddly humorous combination.
I chuckled a little bit. “I fear for the safety of this camp.”
She huffed and tilted her head back a little. “The only reason I haven’t clawed my way through half the people we’ve come across is because you keep stopping me.”
“I just didn’t want you to get in trouble because some people woke up in the morning and decided they were going to be assholes.”
“Still, my patience with them is at its end, I don’t think even you will be able to stop me if someone tries something this time.”
“Hopefully nothing will happen, but I'm not going to be placing any bets on that.” I started walking over to the door and Kala quickly stepped over and latched onto my hand again, leaning slightly on me. I gave her a happy smile while running a thumb over her hand.
We emerged back into the camp and made our way to the cooking area. It was still a little over an hour until lunch would be ready, so there was probably something I could do. As we neared, the smell of the cooking meat made my mouth water. The hunger had to be pushed aside so I could focus on presenting my offer.
We stopped at the point where the line would normally start and waited. It didn’t take long for the chef to notice us there. He looked slightly exasperated as he came over.
“Early again? And you brought another with you. If this starts a habit that makes people show up far too soon just to pester me, I'm not going to be happy.” He grumbled as he probably imagined something like a gaggle of kids constantly asking their mother when dinner would be ready.
I took a quick breath and swallowed my distaste before speaking. “Actually, I was uhm... wondering if you needed some help?”
He immediately became confused before switching to skepticism with a raised eyebrow. “What’s your game? You plan on slipping something nasty into my food?” He glared at me threateningly.
“No, it’s just... I guess I have some free time in the back half of my day, so I was looking for something to do.” He narrowed his eyes at me a little more, so my argument had to be supplemented. “Besides, I have to eat the food too, so putting something unpleasant in it would just be hurting myself.”
“You won’t have to worry about hurting yourself, I would do it for you long before that point.” He growled out. I deflated a little bit as this seemed to be a bust. The chef continued to scan me for a moment with a leer. “What can you even do anyway?”
I blinked a few times before realizing the question needed an answer. “Uhm, I can cut some stuff up, carry things, serve up the portions, just do some basic tasks that need to be done.”
He scanned me up and down for a moment before giving a little huff and turning. I thought that this was just a rejection of my attempt when his hand came up and made a beckoning gesture. Before following, I gave Kala a smile and a nod before letting go of her hand to chase after him. As I caught up to him, he started giving me the run down.
“If you’re so desperate for something to keep you busy then I'll put you to work. People tend to think that cooking is an easy job, but it requires a lot of skill and work to do it right. I expect you to perform any jobs given to you adequately, if not, then you can get lost.” He stopped at a table that had something that looked like a squash and a carrot had a baby.
The chef picked up a knife from the table by the blade and offered the hilt to me. I reached for it, but he quickly jerked it up and away. “No funny business, if you hurt someone, then I will hurt you tenfold. Got it?”
“Yes.” I replied with a nod. He nodded back and allowed me to take the knife.
“Now, cut all these into bite sized pieces, and be quick about it. There are going to be hundreds of hungry mouths here far sooner than I would like.” He left me with the task and went to assist at other workstations.
I got to work cutting these strange vegetables. While not having any particular skills with a knife, I could move at a decent pace without sacrificing my fingers in the process. Compared to everyone else here though, my speed was that of a snail. These people chopped, diced, seasoned, and prepared everything like a well-oiled machine. There wasn’t even a comparison to be made between us, but they inspired me to push myself a little bit and start cutting with more vigor. There were some close calls a few times with me probably losing a few layers of skin, but at least I didn’t start bleeding all over the place.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I got about three-fourths of the way through the pile before the chef came back over and started cutting the vegetables with me. He moved through what was left like a machine, leaving me slightly in awe. Once what was left of the pile had been decimated, he sheathed his knife and looked at me rather unimpressed.
“Move faster, get these into the cauldron over there.” He thumbed where he wanted them to go, and I just started scooping them up for transport. It took a couple of quick trips back and forth to get them all in. As soon as that was finished, I received another job. The fact that he was currently focusing on the prep of the meat while being aware of when tasks were completed around the stations was quite impressive.
I ended up cleaning a few cooking implements that needed to be reused, then was sent to discard useless food scraps, and clean off cluttered stations. While moving around the rest of the cooks gave me some level of stink eye, but they generally focused on their own tasks. I was starting to work up a sweat running back and forth moving things when the line started to form.
The chef hurried everyone along and we all started tossing the ingredients into cauldrons as the chef did taste checks. Those that passed the test were given the all clear to be moved into position for serving while the others that still needed some time or work were assigned a cook to finish it off. The chef summoned me over and pointed towards a large pile of bowls that were stacked and ready for use.
“Start serving them up and place them on the table afterward.”
I nodded and got to it. This part of the work was quite familiar to me, allowing me to move just as efficiently as everyone else. For a brief moment I imagined myself back in the soup kitchen, seeing all the familiar faces that I had gotten to know over the months. It was a fleeting thought before realizing that I did not know any of these faces and none of them even cared for me in the slightest.
After reminiscing, my mind contemplated once more if this was even worth my time. In terms of therapy methods, I was skeptical. I could see how it might help deal with some issues by feeling like you were doing something good to make up for it, but if there was no gratitude for the action then would there even be a sense of relief at all?
I sighed while filling up another bowl. This method of therapy may not work so well for me given my situation. There weren’t any other ideas for what I should do though since this was way outside my field of expertise. My only hope was that Velshi could find something else that might help me.
We burned through the cauldrons quite quickly as the hundreds of hungry soldiers shuffled on by. The line was starting to shorten as the soldiers all got their food and dispersed, leaving only a few remainders who arrived late. Everyone started slowing down a little bit as the general rush and hurry began to mellow out. Eventually, the last one was served, and we stopped moving all together.
The chef turned back to everyone and gave a general ‘well done’ speech to the cooks. After that he started to serve up some meals to the cooks so they could get something to eat as well, I got in this line with the rest of them since I was in the same boat. When my turn came up the chef gave me a quick look before turning to fill up a bowl. Even if it was only half rations, I was still hungry enough that it didn’t matter, I just wanted the food.
He handed me the food and I stared down into a full bowl of soup. I gazed into the dish for a moment wondering if it was just a trick of the light before looking at the chef who was impassive.
“Move along, the others are hungry too.” He simply said, which snapped me out of it as I went off with my food, feeling a little stunned.
I found Kala nearby, waiting for me while she nursed her own bowl of soup. She noticed me and perked up as she stood to greet me. “How did it go?” She asked before noticing my bowl. “Hey! You got a full serving.” She said with a smile before it morphed into a more questioning look. “Or did you take that yourself?”
I shook my head. “No, the chef served me the bowl.”
Her smile returned. “That’s great news! You’re already changing some minds.”
I shrugged with a half-smile. “Maybe, could just be he thought he owed me for the work done.”
“That still means he thought you were helpful at the very least, that’s the first step towards appreciating you.”
“Well, we’ll see, I guess. In the meantime, let’s eat, I'm starving.” We went to our spot to eat though Kala was already mostly done with her food due to her having to wait for me. The meal tasted really good to me. I don’t know if that was because it was finally a full serving or if it was because I was involved in making it, but the soup was enjoyed immensely.
We finished the meal and returned the bowls. The chef caught me just as we dropped them off. “Oi, should I have work ready for you next time or are you done with this?”
I considered the question for a moment. “I might be able to help with dinner, maybe breakfast too, but lunch probably won’t be a regular thing lest you want to argue with Velshi about that.”
He waved me off. “Whatever, I won’t expect much, but there will be some work if you want it.” He went back to cleaning up all the mess that was left from the cooking.
Taking that as a cue, I left with Kala. As we walked, she had a stupid grin on her face while looking at me. I gave her a look as well which only encouraged her to smile wider. In the end, she received an eye roll as we continued walking back to the room. I had a new student to teach after all and didn’t want to keep them waiting.
The mother son pair was waiting outside the tunnel entrance much the same way as when they first showed up. She noticed our approach and looked a little relieved as she stood up. “I knocked on the door earlier and when you didn’t answer I was worried that you had changed your mind.”
“Yeah, I was preoccupied with other things, but I haven’t changed my mind. If you still want me to teach your son, I will do so.”
“Yes, I do. He hasn’t stopped counting things since yesterday, and to see him so excited about learning his numbers makes me happy. I would prefer it if he could grow up and have a choice to become something other than a soldier in this war, but if he must fight, I would like him to be smart enough to become an officer, so he won’t be directly in harm's way.”
“Well, he still seems to be some years off from all that, so if he makes an effort, I'm sure he can learn a lot in that time.” I knelt to talk to the little guy on his level. “I guess I should know your name huh, care to tell me?” I asked with a small smile.
The kid looked really nervous and shy like most kids do when talking to an adult they're not comfortable around yet. “Touren.” He said softly.
“Nice to meet you Touren. So, you like counting, huh?”
He brightened up a little bit now that we moved onto a subject he apparently enjoyed. “Y-yeah, I kept practicing what you told us, I counted forty-four rocks earlier today.” He looked very proud about that.
“Good job! That was more than I was able to show you, so you did very well to figure it out on your own.” Touren beamed at the praise and his mother gave him a happy pat on the back. I turned to the mother. “If you’d like, you can sit in on the first few lessons to see how they go.”
She shook her head. “Unfortunately, if this is to remain a secret from my husband I will have to be elsewhere as to not raise suspicion. I trust that my son will be well looked after?” Those last words came out with a hint of a deathly threat on them.
“Naturally, as a teacher it is my responsibility to look after my students while they are in my care.”
She nodded. “Good, I will return in a few hours.”
I dipped my head a bit at that, and she departed, leaving me with her kid who looked unsure about her departure. I could sympathize with Touren a bit, he was left in the care of two adults whom he did not know, and he didn’t even have his friends here for support like last time. Might as well just start and hope he gets more comfortable as time passes.
“So, Touren, you want to help me get some rocks so we can count them?”
At the mention of counting, he perked up a little bit. “Sure!” He said energetically as he went off in search of loose stones.
Well, maybe it won’t take much time at all. Kids were surprisingly adaptable. I turned to Kala. “You can help too.”
She raised her brow at me before pouting. “Come on, why do I have to pick up rocks?”
“You’re learning as well, so you can help get the class supplies.”
She sighed. “Fine.” She begrudgingly went off in search of pebbles and other small stones that would be useful. I just chuckled a little bit at her before joining in the search. We harvested the side of the volcano slope of its small rocks. Each of us came back with a couple fists full, or armfuls of rocks.
Touren came back with his rocks looking happy with his haul, so I decided to give him a little quiz. “So Touren, do you know how many rocks you picked up?”
He seemed surprised by the sudden question. “Uhm...” He started looking down at his rocks for a moment before his face lit up again. “Twenty-two!” He exclaimed excitedly.
I gave a nod and smiled. “Let’s head into the room and see if that’s right.” We went to the room, and everyone counted their rocks out to see what we had. Touren got his initial count right and received some praise for that. Kala came out with thirty-four, and I had my pockets filled up as well as my hands, so my count was sixty-three.
“Cheater.” Kala said with a smirk as I dragged the last rock out of my pocket.
“I was unaware that this was a competition.” I grinned at her while she just rolled her eyes. Everyone set their rocks down on the table. Touren sat across from me at the table while Kala sat on her cot. She would already know a lot about what would have to be learned with Touren so this would just be a review for her.
I started with him counting as high as he could go with what we had available. He slowly progressed through the numbers, hesitating in only a few places to think about the right number. He got all the way through the forties but stopped just before fifty, apparently getting stumped there.
That was my cue to jump in and help him along, giving him the hint that the numbers in the tens place were similar to the ones, and that they ended in ‘-ty.’ He thought about that for a second and then said “Five-ty?”
“Close, fifty is the correct way to say it.”
Touren nodded and then started counting again. With the new knowledge acquired, he made it all the way up to ninety-nine. After he made it that far, he hesitated as he did not know what to say next. I explained the hundreds and he seemed very fascinated with the concept. We left the hundreds on the backburner for now and moved onto some simple addition.
We made use of the stones we acquired to solve the problems, starting with a handful and then I would place some more next to it before asking him what these two together would be. This was the way we went about the exercises, and I mixed in some word problems as well to keep things interesting.
Touren did a good job, he counted out everything deliberately at first but a few problems that I repeated in a different format he picked up on and came back with the answer immediately. It was all part of the learning process, slowly building your knowledge until you can identify and solve problems using what you know.
A few hours went by quickly, and there was a knock on the door. I went over to open it and saw Touren’s mother there. Touren saw his mom and got up from the chair, running over to give her a hug.
“Touren, is everything all right?” She asked her son with a hint of concern.
“I missed you.” He said with a muffled voice as his head was buried in her stomach.
She smiled down at him and gave him a hug back. “I missed you too. Did you learn a lot though?”
He looked up and nodded vigorously. “Yeah! I learned more numbers, and something called addition where you put numbers together.”
“Well, aren’t you so smart!” She said while rubbing his head, a proud smile on her face. She looked over at me next. “Everything went alright? There were no problems?”
“None at all, your son is a good student. If he keeps at it, I'm sure he will learn quite a lot.”
She dipped her head at me. “Thank you. I hope you will continue to teach my son what you know.” I nodded at her, and she took her son by the hand and led him back out.
Once they were gone, I sighed and sat down at the table again, feeling a little tired but otherwise good for a change. Kala pulled a chair over so she could sit right next to me. She leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder while taking my hand. I smiled while resting my head on hers as we enjoyed a moment of calm. It was certainly a nice change of pace, but there was no telling when it might change again, so we enjoyed it for all it was worth.