Gwyn sat in a dimly lit room, rubbing his aching head, which seemed to throb out of sync with his racing heart. Gritting his teeth together, he grunted and reached for a case of pills. Two crunched under his teeth in a sensation that reminded him of hard candies but layered with bitter taste the whole way down.
“I don’t know if taking them that much is a good idea,” the blue dragon-esk Needaimus chimed in from his side.
“Shut up, Mem.”
The Needaimus held its wings up like a shrug and curled up on his lap.
“You probably should go out and get some air. The doctor did say that you need some fresh suns light every now and then.”
Gwyn muttered, “You’re as bad as Fiona. Seeing two of those stupid things instead of one is part of the problem.”
“What was that?”
“I don’t want to go out; I want to sleep for a little while longer.” He wiped some sweat from his forehead, which became noticeable now that the drumming pain had stopped. Some dream snapped him awake, though now he couldn’t remember. Even if he could, it would just be yet another terrible experience to berate him when least desired.
“It is getting later in the morning now, though, and you know Fiona has that trip planned. Maybe you ought to pack.”
Gwyn shook his head. He didn’t want to pack. Doing so would mean he really was going on that trip, and something was bound to go terribly wrong. His heart picked back up as the possibilities ran through his mind. He couldn’t know what would go bad, but he could be sure it would be miserable, maybe even fatal. Even his room was not guaranteed to be safe, there could be a fire, or perhaps some kind of equivalent of carbon monoxide by whatever process alien HVAC used.
The earthling frantically rushed his hands through his hair—back and forth—until the reddish strands surely looked like a frayed knot.
What was he supposed to do? He didn’t know anymore. Did he just come to Resh to lay down and die? Gwyn gritted his teeth and reached for the pill container once again. Mem whipped his hand with its blue tail before Gwyn could. Before he could snap, and he felt a strong enough rush of rage to scream, the Needaimus piped up.
“You’re getting a message on the royal tablet they loaned you.”
Gwyn snarled but kept his rage held in as he reached for the tablet. He rubbed his once scaly arm while panning his eyes over the screen. A request over the message system—something that reminded him of early 00’s email as he understood it—called for the Nonpareil to please come to the research lab garages. Gwyn felt some weight on his shoulder as Mem leaned over. “Look at that. You better go see what they want.”
“When I get to it.”
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Gwyn laid down and was pretty sure he fell asleep for another hour or two. To continue being that tired after many hours of sleep prior was surprising, but he wasn’t about to question. He just needed sleep, that was all.
Not bothering to brush his hair or change out of the clothes he slept in, Gwyn eventually grabbed his case of pills, tablet, and Needaimus and exited through the sliding door that cut him off from the rest of the busy castle.
The castle staff was scarce, and the few advisors that passed by would move to the opposite side of the hallway and whisper to each other if there was more than one. Gwyn rolled his eyes after the third time and scratched at his left arm.
“No scratching; it won’t heal properly!” Mem chimed in from atop his shoulder.
“You’re not my nurse or my mom.”
Mem probably replied something stupid. Gwyn didn’t pay much mind as he rounded a corner and spotted a castle worker carrying obviously too many bundles. Without a word, he walked up to her and scooped two bundles between his good arm and his side. He tried to support it with his left arm but gave up when the limb proved to be doing more harm than good. The Aqueenian, some green girl he’d never met before, looked dumbfounded and opened her mouth to speak. “Looks like we are going the same way. Let’s get going,” Gwyn interrupted in a cold tone. She silently led the way. Occasionally, Gwyn would pick up she was looking at him with wide blue eyes, and when he met them, the girl would snap her head away. They soon reached a kitchen, and he dropped the bundles off without a word and left with a small wave to follow up a quiet ‘thank you.’
“How helpful of you!” Mem chimed in once they had returned to walking through the halls.
“I just did the bare minimum of what anyone would have done, can’t have them thinking I am living here for free.”
“Hmm.”
“I don’t want to hear any lip from you.”
“I don’t have lips. Needaimus, remember?”
“Shut up.”
Much as he didn’t want to admit it, walking through the halls eased his aching head somewhat. He would never tell Mem, lest he never hear the end of ‘going out to get some fresh air’. He practically already didn’t hear the end of it.
Gwyn suddenly felt mad without knowing why and crunched a pill to ease the emotion. He turned another corner, knowing his destination was close, but ran into the third worst obstacle that could be there.
“Colton, hello….”
“Nonpareil! It’s wonderful to see you!” the green guard beamed. Gwyn focused in on the scar on the Aqueenian’s face rather than the face itself. At least it wasn’t Fiona…. Or the ghost, but he really didn’t want to think about that.
“I’m actually on my way to the research garages; I got a call.”
“Oh, I know; they’ve been sending a message over the loudspeaker for the last hour in that area. I think they assume you got lost or something.”
“Seriously?” Gwyn felt his shoulders slump.
“They might also want to justify putting those in. Got to make sure you play with the toys after you spend lots to buy them,” Colton said before laughing. “Well, I heard through the brupmf vine that the princess is getting your old band back together for a trip to Xiakoryfi Resort. I have to say, I am a little jealous… not as jealous as a certain other three individuals—but staying on guard duty can be rough. With Prince Donn away to discuss new policy with Hobusians and some weird rumors coming from scouts in Roanoke, and now the trial for the king’s murderer, there is a lot going on.”
“Should you be telling me all this?”
Colton first turned a paler shade of green, then brightened back up.
“Of course, you’re the Nonpareil. Every Nonpareil has to deal with this kind of stuff.”
“If you say so, I probably should get going to those labs, though.” Gwyn started to walk away.
“Of course, but hold on one more second. I wanted to say I hope you have a good trip!”
“Yeah… thanks Colton…. Well, I’ll see you later.”
With goodbyes seemingly properly made, Gwyn waved and continued down the hallway to the lab. In the distance, he could hear a voice.