Charles swung his long legs over the side of the bed. With one long powerful arm he grabbed the netting and swung it in one graceful motion so that the net no longer obscured their vision. He placed his hands on his knees and leaned heavily over them. “Will, every time someone mentions the Whyte Plain or Achelois you have come here to check on me. To be quite honest I’m kind of sick of you visiting me…everyday!” he said this last with a smile.
William couldn’t help but smile with him. “Look, Charles, what you and I went through is not something that shape shifters just get over.”
“And yet, you give no time to yourself and your own remarkable recovery” Charles shot back not unkindly.
William nodded to himself. This was true but then he couldn’t really tell anybody what had happened with him. If he told anybody about his other and the battles the two of them had fought inside his head he would most definitely be put down as a werewolf. But since Charles had gone through the same thing he had, maybe…
”Charles, I had help, kind of.” Charles simply looked at his friend. William couldn’t see a trace of judgement, or condemnation from his friend. He slowly proceeded. “Look, ever since I was reborn in the wild, back there in my valley next to the ocean, there has been something inside of me.”
Charles nodded, “Yes. That being is the monster that we carry with us.” He said as he tapped at his chest.
William shook his head, “No, look, were you aware, at all, of where you were when the beast had control of you? When you were in the dungeon, did you have any thoughts or memories that were from you as you are now?”
Charles straightened his posture; at least William’s questions had got his attention. “No, Will, the only memories I have of my time chained in my cell were of my last weeks. I remember sitting calmly eating with as much dignity as I could when I was fed.” Charles rubbed at his chin, “Though that’s not the answer you were looking for. Will, what is it? What are you trying to find out?”
William sat there on the floor at a loss for what to say, “So, you didn’t talk to another consciousness inside your head?”
Charles shook his head, “No, I’m sorry.”
William heaved himself off the floor, “Don’t worry about it.” William walked idly to one of the walls and propped himself up against the cool smooth stone. “So, when do you think you’ll be back with us?”
Charles was gracious enough to know when a subject had been closed and he allowed his friend the privacy of the ended conversation. “Physis, Huan Li, Eustace, and Jacob all say that they can feel nothing wrong with me. There is nothing in my body that isn’t healed. I expect to be able to rejoin you tomorrow.”
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William nodded with a close lipped smile, “It’ll be good to have you back. Nicolas has been driving me crazy lately.”
Charles smirked at him, “You know he only does that so you will get frustrated.”
William paused for a moment, “No” William said thoughtfully, “No, I don’t think he does. I think he acts the ways he does simply because it’s the way he is.”
Charles laughed out loud, “You might be right, Will. So, what do we do, kill him?”
“Oh, nothing that extreme,” an evil smirk crept up William’s face, “I think castration would do the trick.”
Charles winched and covered his groin reflexively with one of his hands, “Ouch, that’s cold, Will. You would do that to another man?”
“To another man? No” William said in a mocking tone, “But to a worthless whining pooch that had it coming to him, yes.”
Charels rubbed at the back of his neck, “Man, remind me never to get you pissed off.”
“Oh, come on!” William said smiling, “I’m only kidding… and you know it! Besides if I did do something like that, Aceso would have my ass and my head to play with as soccer balls.”
“That’s a pretty image.” Charles leaned back and his eyes looked far off visualizing something far away. “What would an Enforcer’s head look like careening into the net after being kicked at a great angle to beat the goalie? I wonder if you’d be able to react at all when the announcer yelled…GOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!” Charles bellowed this last as he cupped his hands around his mouth.
The sudden yell reverberated through the room. William covered his ears and wondered who else was in a ten block radius would hear that huge noise and wonder, ‘what the hell was that!?’ the thought was rather funny and he let himself smile.
Charles let the noise die from his throat and sat in silent mirth. “So now what?”
William pushed himself away from the wall where he had been standing. “Well, Aceso was called to meet with Huan Li, for a second I was afraid it had something to do with you, but obviously not.”
“So far as we know.” Charles added dryly.
William shot him a hard look, “Don’t even play around like that, Charles.” Charles raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side as if to say, ‘really Will? really?’ William shook the look away and started walking around the room again. “So, Aceso is meeting with Huan Li and we’ll see what happens from there. With any luck your recovery will be official and you can start getting your butt kicked during our training sessions again.”
Charles nodded thoughtfully, “Yes, about that…well never mind.”
“Have you eaten yet?” William threw over his shoulder ignoring the unspoken comment of his friend.
Charles answered, “Yes, Amanda was good enough to bring the bed ridden invalid his meal.”
“How is she doing?” William asked with a smirk.
“Same old Amanda, just as sweet as lemonade.”
“Don’t you mean lemon juice?” William asked.
Charles lifted his head slightly, “Is that the one? I always get confused between the two.” The two friends laughed out loud once more.
William looked out the doorway back out into the city. The ceiling crystals had dimmed down to starlight. Is it that late already? Suddenly a huge yawn cracked William’s face wide open as he rushed to cover it with one of his hands.