Gabriel was surprised that his door was being knocked on after this long day he had had, but after he had scanned the individual on the other side of the door, he could only sigh at Kupi’s presence. He didn’t want to let him in, but he also knew that he wouldn’t stop knocking until he was let in.

- What do you want? – Gabriel “greeted” Kupi with his most annoyed voice he could muster, making it clear to his visitor that he wasn’t wanted. – Are you going to crack another joke, you buffoon? Or maybe you’ll just stand there quietly to annoy me. – He said after Kupi had stood there for about a minute without even opening his mouth.

- I… I’m just searching for the right words. – Kupi wearily replied

- Oh, so NOW you care about saying the right thing. What great timing! Truly one of your best performances yet! You couldn’t have thought of it before, huh?! – Gabriel burst with anger and closed the door on Kupi. – In case you don’t understand this, it means that I don’t want to talk to you, so don’t knock on the door again! – He stomped his foot to emphasize his irritation.

So Kupi didn’t knock again, although he was about to. He knew that they needed to talk else their relationship would deteriorate further. He had to take action now and he did, although not in the best way possible… He picked the door of Gabriel’s room and entered it soon thereafter.

When Gabriel realized this his gaze turned to the small window that the room had, but quickly disposed of his plan to escape through there. Not only was it too small for him to quickly fit, but there would also be a three story fall soon thereafter which usually would be no problem for him.

But, with his head going headfirst into the ground and the short amount of time he’d have to react wouldn’t be enough for his tired brain. So, he would have to go around Kupi and through the door… to somewhere else where he wouldn’t be found. He now asked himself why he hadn’t done that after his fight with Kupi but didn’t reach a conclusive answer.

- Now before you go rushing to me to escape the inn, please just let me talk… - Kupi kindly requested to Gabriel, but he had other plans – Ok, you won’t, you’re already rushing to escape, I see. We will have to do this the hard way.

At the time Kupi was about two thirds the size of Gabriel, but in terms of battle experience Kupi was miles ahead of Gabriel, even if the Rakshnurian had experienced more per year. This would have made for an interesting fight, if only Kupi hadn’t planned ahead and planted a trap on the other side of the door which caught Gabriel after Kupi put some resistance not to make Gabriel think that he had a plan.

Now trapped and unable to move Gabriel tried casting some spells, but the rope that Kupi had used was special in the sense that it could absorb mana. It was usually used against beasts that had learned to gain mana in their bodies and use it in their daily lives. Realizing that there was no way out, Gabriel tried not to listen to what Kupi started to say.

- I’m sorry for what I’ve done. – Kupi started apologizing and Gabriel looked at him expecting a continuation, but Kupi stood there quietly for some time.

- Is that really all? You do all this charade just to tell me about seven words? - Gabriel wriggled inside the net – REALLY?! WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ANY OF THIS – Before Gabriel could finish fuming, Kupi taped his mouth shut.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

- Its just that it’s been a long time since I’ve fucked up like this. – Kupi punched the wall and left a clear mark. – I haven’t done new friends in years, and you still are too immature to just get over it. – Kupi continued while Gabriel wriggled angrily. – You may say that it is my responsibility to behave but boy would you know how much I’ve controlled myself while I had been around you?

Kupi squatted in front of Gabriel and put his hand around Gabriel’s chin. He directed his face and his gaze towards himself and looked at him in the eyes for a moment. Then he quickly stood up and continued his monologue.

- And then you left me for some time, so I could finally unwind and be true to myself, with all my charades, tricks and jokes which I usually solve the next day because people understand it’s a joke, they don’t close themselves off of me because of a single thing I said. – Kupi was walking around Gabriel’s now unmoving body while telling his story. – Then, suddenly, you appear once again. I had seen the fire and knew your house was there, but I didn’t expect you to come to me! Fuck! – Kupi stomped his foot on the ground. – And I had drunk some alcohol, I wasn’t fully myself, but I still tried to control my true self, yet a tiny, teeny joke came out and you reacted like it was the end of the fucking world. – Kupi immediately turned to Gabriel and grabbed his head once more. Kupi was now talking about ten centimeters off of Gabriel’s face. – At some point or another you would learn this side of me, the real me, so I’m kind of glad that it happened. But you… you… if you can’t even hold your will against such childish jokes, what would you do if someone angered you in battle to make you lose control? What would you do?! – Gabriel could only wriggle around to try to convey a message, but Kupi didn’t mind him. – I don’t fucking care about your answer because I know the real one. You would break down, lose control and get hurt that way, maybe even die! – Kupi stopped for a second to let that sink. – But you may say that you didn’t expect me to say that and that’s why you lost control. So what? Your enemies won’t ever act one way to gain your trust and backstab you? Are you the only one that can do that? OR wait. You didn’t even think about it, because all you ever think about are simple, idiotic thoughts!

With that, Kupi finished and breathed deeply for a few moments to calm himself down. He had been very emotional but also loud during his speech, so his throat was coarse. Other guests were also disturbed by the situation and glanced at them for a moment, but decided it was best for themselves not to intervene.

- Now right now you’re probably very mad against me and I fully understand this, you’ll probably leave this place to go somewhere where I won’t find you, but please, please just think of what I’ve told you. Think of what you really want, YOU, not somebody else. And then get it. I may be unconventional but I’m sure you’ll be glad to know that I only have two layers when you meet people that cover their real selves under thousand covers. Now go to your room and do whatever you wanted to do. – Kupi threw Gabriel inside of his room and the ropes untied as he was going in. Gabriel fell on his stomach while his door closed behind him. When Gabriel looked through the keyhole, Kupi was nowhere to be seen.

Gabriel leaned on the door and sighed deeply. He had quite a bit to think and reflect about, but he didn’t really want to do it that day, he was too tired for it, so he decided to just go to his bed, lay down and rest.

But on his bed, he just couldn’t fall asleep, his mind couldn’t stop to remembering what had happened just a moments prior, be it his defenselessness, his idiocy to fall to such a trap or simply to what Kupi had told him.

To finally sleep, he started thinking of happy or calming thoughts, be it the stillness of a lake or the quietness of a forest. Slowly but surely, his breath became calmer, and his body drifted to sleep. He slept surprisingly well, considering what he had experienced during the day, though maybe it was because of these experiences that he slept so well.